


Dramatical Murder Omegaverse

by Princess_Jules_von_Schweetz



Category: DRAMAtical Murder (Visual Novel), DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Anal Fingering, Anal Play, Anal Sex, Biting, Blow Jobs, Boys Kissing, Groping, Implied Mpreg, Knotting, Light BDSM, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Minor Original Character(s), Mpreg, Orgasm Control, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Rough Kissing, Threats of Rape/Non-Con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:15:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 40,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24293443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Princess_Jules_von_Schweetz/pseuds/Princess_Jules_von_Schweetz
Summary: Aoba is a young adult omega who's struggling to find his way in the world. Koujaku, his childhood friend, is creating distance between them, and the hole left by his parents and brother leaving when he was young is still felt. Aoba is beginning to wonder if there's no one who cares about him. Just as he's despairing, he dreams about someone who looks just like him, who tells him they don't need anyone.
Relationships: Koujaku/Seragaki Aoba, Noiz/Sly Blue (DRAMAtical Murder)
Comments: 28
Kudos: 48





	1. First Heat

**Author's Note:**

> There is no non-con in this story, but *trigger warning*, there is some rough kissing/groping that's not necessarily wanted. Please skip this story if you think that would make you uncomfortable.

I jerk awake, suddenly sitting up in bed. I am drenched in sweat. My blanket and bedsheet had at some point been kicked down to the end of my bed. 

“Aoba, are you okay?” Ren inquires. He must have been sleeping on my chest, because when I raised up, I felt him plop belly-up on my lap. He looks up at me with large black eyes.

“Heh,” I chuckle breathily. I help him roll over. “I’m sorry, Ren. I guess I didn’t sleep well. Must be my nerves.” 

“My sensors are indicating that your stress hormone levels and heart rate are high.”

“I guess I’m more anxious about this job than I realized... I’m sure I’ll feel better once I wake up more.” 

I slip out of my pajamas and into a pair of jeans that were folded in a pile next to my dresser. I pick out a long-sleeved blue shirt, navy legwarmers, and a pair of yellow socks. I leave my pink headphones on the charging dock today. I want to make a good impression on my first day at work, so I’ll wait and ask my new boss if I can bring Ren and my headphones. 

I check my hair in the mirror in the hallway at the top of the stairs. My hair is too tender to run a brush through it, so I do a quick routine check for knots with my fingers and carefully pull them apart. My hair is long and often attracts unwanted attention, so after a little grooming session, I pull my hair up into a ponytail. 

Ren trots alongside my feet down the stairs. I hear the clang of pots and pans and the static of grease popping. I smell the steam from the rice cooker, and my nose tingles a bit from the salty, savory smell of the miso chicken my granny is frying. It makes my mouth water. 

“Good morning, Granny,” I yawn, stretching my arms above my head. 

“Good morning. I see your lazy butt is out of bed already. Ren, how did you manage it?” She asks, opening the rice cooker. Granny scoops out heaps of sticky white rice with a paddle and spreads it on a plate. 

“Actually, Aoba woke me up this morning,” Ren responds. His curly, navy blue tail flicks against my leg. 

“Oh? I wouldn’t believe it if anyone other than you had told me,” she finishes piling one plate high with food and starts on the second.

“Well I start my new job today and I’m nervous… I guess,” I grab chopsticks and cups to help granny set the table. 

“At the ice cream shop?”

“Yeah. I guess I’m afraid because not a lot of places around here will hire omegas, but the owner said as long as I keep my heats in check, I should be alright. And seeing as I haven’t gotten my heats yet, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Hmph,” Granny grunts. “Being an omega has nothing to do with one’s work ethic. Alpha, beta, omega: they’re all the same, just slight physiological differences in their genitals.” 

“Granny!” I nearly choke on my rice. 

“My data also aligns with this,” Ren chimes in _oh so helpfully_ , “The belief that omegas are the bottoms of society is an antiqued belief based on social constructs.”

“Erm, don’t you mean ‘bottom?’” I ask. 

“Well whatever you are, you’re still a member of the Seragaki household, and if you want to eat then you’ve got to work!” She thwacks me with a wooden spoon. 

“Ouch!” I flinch and clutch at my head. “Jeez…” 

  


My first day at the ice cream shop goes well. I got my apron, hat, and learned how to roll the ice cream scoop in the giant vats of ice cream to get perfectly round scoops. I also learned how to make milk shakes, and it was my job to clean the blenders in between customers. During the last half hour of the shift I had to sweep the shop and pick up any trash left by the customers. The manager told me I would be learning how to operate the register tomorrow. The day flew by, and even though I had been nervous, I felt comfortable once I had something to do. At the end of my shift my boss thanked me for my hard work and sent me off. I left feeling pretty confident that I could handle this job. For some reason though, I still feel a little on edge. I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. 

I had packed my uniform my bag and was leaving for Granny’s when I hear a familiar voice call out to me. 

“Yo, Aoba!”

It’s Mizuki and some members of Dry Juice. Mizuki is wearing his signature red and dark-navy studded jacket. He waves me over with a gloved hand. Next to him is a tall, lanky guy I recognize as Takumi, one of the original Dry Juice members. His hair is black and short. He wears a similar outfit to Mizuki: black jeans with studded pockets and a tight leather jacket. He’s one of the only Dry Juice member I’ve gotten to know personally. Since Dry Juice is the largest Ribsteez team in Midorijima, there are a lot of members I don’t know. Most Ribsteez groups are led by alphas. Because alphas are naturally larger, and stronger, alphas make good leaders, especially in a physical game like Ribsteez. But Mizuki challenged this stereotype by being a beta and still creating arguably the best Ribsteez team out there. Their reputation reached beyond Midorijima. 

“Hey,” I call back and run over to join them, “You guys sure look like a bunch of thugs. What are you all out doing?” Mizuki smiles and pats me on the back. 

“Well then, a pretty little omega is just what we need,” Takumi teases, “Help soften our look and cheerlead us at the scrimmage.”

That gets some shouts of encouragement from the other members.

“Cheerlead my ass,” I mutter, throwing an annoyed look at Takumi, “I have no interest in Ribsteez anyway.”

“Give it time,” Mizuki says, throwing an arm around my shoulder, “I swear I’m going to get your to join Dry Juice someday.” 

“No, you are not,” I quickly correct him.

“Hey, you don’t know,” Mizuki smiles and shrugs, “You could wake up one day wanting to let out some frustration.” 

“Nah, that’s just not me.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll back off for now. Just let me know when you’re tired of selling ice cream to brats.” 

“On second thought,” I say, narrowing my eyes at Mizuki, “kicking your ass right now doesn’t sound so bad.”

Mizuki and the team roar in laughter. I can’t help but feel like I’m being made fun of, so I throw my bag over my shoulder and start to leave.

“Hang on, Aoba,” Mizuki stops me by grabbing my hood, “Joking aside, you should come along. We’re on our way to scrimmage against Benishigure.”

“So?” 

“Koujaku’s fighting today,” Takumi chimes in, “Don’t you want to see that womanizer get his ego knocked down a peg or two?” 

I think of Koujaku and his flashy kimono and ornate accessories. Though he’s been my friend since we were kids, I couldn’t say I liked his newly acquired playboy attitude. It irked me how I couldn’t run errands on the weekends without seeing him surrounded by his fan club of female omegas. He was too much, even for an alpha. A small smile creeps up on my face.

“Well, I wouldn’t hate it,” I admit, and a couple members cheer in agreement, getting pumped for the fight. Their excitement is contagious, and I begin to feel stoked about the scrimmage too. 

“That’s the spirit!” Mizuki slaps my back, I nearly double over and stumble.

“Hey, watch it-!”

  


The air is buzzing with excitement. Even though Mizuki had said it was just a scrimmage, both Dry Juice and Benishigure had quite the reputation and had amassed a sizeable crowd. A good amount of the crowd are alphas- big burly guys wanting to let out some of their aggression. The air is a little stifling from the sheer amount of alpha pheromones. It reminds me why I don’t go to fights anymore. When I was younger the pheromones didn’t bother me that much, but now they made my head feel foggy.

Mizuki notices I look uncomfortable and says it's not too late to skip out. While tempting, I am still curious to see how Koujaku will do, so I decline and stay to watch the scrimmage. 

Koujaku is warming up for the fight and taping his knuckles. He had removed his kimono and the sword he normally carries. Koujaku hasn’t noticed me among the crowd yet.

In the middle of the ring stands the referee. He’s a tall, bald man in a black t-shirt and jeans. I recognize him as one of the bouncers at Black Needle. 

The referee uses a megaphone to describe the rules of the scrimmage. It will be a War Games match. The fight will begin with two fighters, they will fight for three minutes then a team member will join the fight. Then every three minutes after that, a team member from alternating teams will join the fight. Once all the fighters have entered the fight, the first team member to knock out one of the others wins. 

Four team members of each group line up on opposite sides of the battle area. Koujaku is first up for Benishigure and Takumi was first up for Dry Juice. 

Mizuki, who isn’t fighting today, coaches his team members, getting them pumped up to fight. 

The ref blows a whistle and Koujaku and Takumi dash towards each other. Koujaku throws the first punch. Takumi deflects it and counters with a right hook. Koujaku swiftly dodges and sweeps his leg behind Takumi. Koujaku clothes-lines Takumi, knocking him flat on his back. The audience’s reaction is mixed- Koujaku’s fan club screeches wildly while others are jeering for Takumi’s sake. 

Koujaku waits for Takumi to stand back up, who is angry at himself for falling so early in the match. Takumi grits his teeth and comes after Koujaku harder. His punches swoosh audibly through the air. Koujaku carefully maneuvers just out of reach of Takumi and gets some blows in of his own. It looks like Koujaku has the advantage because he’s taller and has a longer reach. 

The ref blows the whistle again and the second Dry Juice member joins the fight. It’s now two against Koujaku. Koujaku keeps his distance from the two Dry Juice members, being careful to not let one of them get behind him. I recognize the new fighter to be Ryosuke, who has long dark, curly hair tied up in the back and wears leather black pants and a matching vest. Ryosuke charges at Koujaku and unleashes a flurry of punches aimed at Koujaku’s stomach. I hear the thud and thwack of flesh on flesh as punches land. Takumi sees an opening and tries to wrap his arm around Koujaku’s neck. Koujaku evades him and delivers a round house kick that sends the two sprawling to the ground. My jaw drops. I’d forgotten how good Koujaku is at fighting. Even if his cockiness is annoying, he’s not just all hot air. 

Koujaku takes a moment to catch his breath, his chest heaving and covered in a sheen of sweat. The Dry Juice members resume their fighting stances- their eyes burning with fury. 

“Don’t lose your focus!” Mizuki calls out to them. “Keep cool. Focus on your stamina. Don’t let your emotions get the best of you.” He coaches from the sideline. 

The whistle blows again and a second Benishigure member, this time it’s Hagima, enters the match. It’s now an even two on two. Hagima resembles Koujaku’s style of having nothing but jeans and tape on. But unlike Koujaku, Hagima’s hair is short and spiky. He leans in to say something to Koujaku who nods in response. Then Koujaku dives towards Ryosuke and Hagima goes after Takumi. 

Outside of the ring I see the two remaining Dry Juice members waiting to join in the fight. The first I know to be Kenta; I see him often at the Black Needle. The other is someone I don’t recognize. He’s is a massive monster who paces back and forth like a caged animal. He keeps his eyes locked on the match, unblinking. He’s easily over six feet tall and his entire torso except for his neck and forearms are covered in Japanese tattoos. A gorgeous Bengal tiger roars on his chest. I worry if Koujaku and his team really stand a chance against this guy. 

The fight is at a stalemate when the whistle blows again and the third Dry Juice member Kenta rushes in. Hagima unluckily has his back to the new fighter. Kenta seizes the opportunity by throwing his arms around Hagima and pins his arms to his sides. Takumi takes advantage by throwing punches into Hagima’s abdomen. Hagima yells, dips out from Kenta’s hold and jabs his elbow back into his chest. Kenta’s flung into the ground with a loud smack. 

Koujaku, who is still fighting against Ryosuke, calls out to Hagima. Hagima howls, setting his sights on Takumi who had punched him while he was restrained. The crowd cries in excitement. Hagima unleashes a hailstorm of punches and Takumi, who is losing steam, takes most of the blows to his chest and stomach. 

Meanwhile Koujaku had no trouble keeping up with Ryosuke, but he doesn’t notice Kenta coming up behind him just as he had Hagima. Koujaku yells in surprise when Kenta locks his arms around Koujaku’s neck, bending his back in an awkward position. Ryosuke sweeps in and picks Koujaku up by his legs. They both lift Koujaku high up in the air and members of the audience scream in terror. They slam him down onto the bare concrete. I gasp, worried that Koujaku has seriously been hurt. He curls up feebly on the ground, rolling to his side. His back is scrapped and bleeding. 

The whistle blows and Kou joins the match. His long, grey hair is tied back with a headband. He runs and knocks Kenta down with a solid kick to the back. Kou repeatedly kicks Kenta until he crumples to the ground in pain. Kenta tries to shield his head by curling in a ball til Ryosuke pushes Kou off of his teammate. 

While Koujaku still writhes on the ground, Kenta and Ryosuke circle around Kou like a couple of hungry sharks. Kou meets their gazes and glares back fearlessly. Then, at the same time, they both rushed him- Kenta lands a flying knee straight into Kou’s back and Ryosuke clothes lines him across the neck. Kou collapses to the ground, coughing and writhing. 

_This isn’t good._

Koujaku is down, Hagima looks like he’s about to collapse, and Kou is being ganged up on.

Just when things looked like they couldn’t get any worse for Benishigure, the whistle blow once more and the giant Dry Juice member joins the fight. 

I gasp. He’s going straight for Koujaku. 

Koujaku, who has just managed to get back up on to one knee, is pulled up by his bangs. The crowd unanimously boos in response. Unphased, the giant guy decks Koujaku in the face, sending him reeling to the ground again. Koujaku doesn’t move; it’s clear to anyone that he’s done for this fight, but to my horror, the monster isn’t done yet. 

The tattooed beast sits on Koujaku’s back and locks his arms under chin. He leans back, forcing Koujaku to bend backward. It looks like he’s in excruciating pain. Koujaku tries to pull out of the submission hold, but he’s being crushed under the guy’s weight. He gives it his all before slapping the ground. The match is over. 

The huge Dry Juice member gets off of Koujaku. Before I can think, I run into the ring to Koujaku’s side. He’s roughed up pretty badly. I see that his nose is bleeding. He’s a little out of it, but he seems okay. He’s surprised and smiles faintly when he sees it’s me by his side. He moves to stand. 

“Idiot, don’t move! Wait til someone can treat you,” I scold him. 

“This is nothing,” Koujaku says, trying to sound tough but not doing a great job of it- it’s clear that he’s about to keel over.

My vision blurs and spins. Being this close to Koujaku, his pheromones are really strong.

“Aoba?” Koujaku prods, concerned. His voice sounds far away.

“Hey,” I hear someone else say, “Is that blue-haired omega in heat?”

I giggle. I realize that they’re talking about me. For some reason, it struck me as funny. I’ve never been in heat before, so I don’t know. I figure I’m just overdosing on the testosterone in the air. 

Koujaku’s face becomes clear in my vision. He searches my face and seems to find what he is looking for. His Adam’s apple bobs, and he suddenly turns to leave. Before I can call after him, someone pulls me up by my arm. 

“Hey, wait,” I say and try to pull away, but the hand gripping my arm only tightens and forcibly drags me away from the crowd. I stumble as my abductor nearly drags me into a back alley. He, an alpha by his scent, pushes me against the side of a building. It’s cold and damp against my back. His rough, calloused hands slip under my shirt. He gropes me desperately; I bite back a groan. 

“No- stop!” I yell meekly. I feebly try to push away him away, but my body desperately wants me to give in to pleasure building from his impassioned touches. I peer up into the face of the alpha I recognize to be Hagima, the Benishigure member. “Please…I don’t want this. Stop!”

“Stop? But you’re the one who started this. You must have known this would happen, going into heat in front of all those alphas…”

“I’m not… I’ve never-” I try to defend myself, but he covers my mouth with his and assaults me with his tongue. It hungrily probes around my mouth and rubs against my tongue and palate. My knees weaken in response. I’m seconds away from relenting and letting my body do what it wants. 

“Aoba!” I hear Mizuki shout and he breaks me and Hagima out of our trances. Mizuki marches forward and forcibly shoves him off of me. Hagima staggers backwards. 

“What the hell are you doing to Aoba?” Mizuki demands. I notice that Takumi and a couple other Dry Juice members are here too. They freeze; their bodies going rigid.

“Hey, wait Mizuki… It’s not his fault,” Takumi says, taking a step back, “It’s Aoba- he’s in heat.”

Mizuki looks confused, the words not making sense at first, but then the realization settles in. He relaxes his fists but doesn’t take his eyes off of Hagima. 

“Oh… um…” Mizuki's dark skin seems to let off a pinkish glow, “Aoba… my apartment is nearby. Let’s go and get you some medicine.” 

Mizuki helps me onto his back. I'm embarrassed, but I'm dizzy and weak, so, inwardly, I’m glad that he’s doing this for me.

“Everyone, good work today. I’ll see you guys tomorrow at Black Needle,” Mizuki says. He throws final glare at Hagima and we leave. 

I sweat heavily, my body is burning up. I realize too that I'm panting and try my best to stifle it. Thankfully, Mizuki says nothing the whole trip. 

We arrive at his apartment and Mizuki helps into his bed. He gives me a cold bottle of water from the fridge. I hold it against my forehead. It feels pleasant at first but quickly warms up from my body heat. 

“Hey, Aoba,” Mizuki asks, jolting me from my daze, “Are you alright? Do you have any pheromone suppressants?”

His words don’t make any sense. I think that I’m just glad that he’s here to take care of me. It makes me feel safe and giddy. I smile up at Mizuki. The first feelings of dizziness and heaviness were subsiding. Now… now I hear that voice inside of me telling me to give in. Give in to my need to be touched. Give in. I want to lean against Mizuki and feel how he’d feel against me.

“Mizuki…” I purr and lean forward to touch him. He pulls back, his eyes widening in surprise. 

“Aoba!” He gasps. The panicked look on his face makes me chuckle. He’s just outside of the reach of my fingertips. I stand up from the bed, but he pushes me back down.

“Hold on. L-let’s call your grandma,” Mizuki’s blush returns and I think it’s cute. He searches through his coil for granny’s contact and I take the opportunity to nuzzle my face into Mizuki’s stomach. His breath catches, but he regains composure and presses Call. I hear snippets of granny and Mizuki’s conversation somewhere far away. My attention is focused on tracing the hard lines of Mizuki’s abs with my fingers. I explore his midriff and reach around to stroke the long, defined groves of his muscular back. 

After the call ends, Mizuki gently, but firmly, takes my hands off and leads me back into bed. 

“I’m going to go to the store and get you some of the suppressants your grandma recommended. I’ll be back soon. Don’t go anywhere,” He grins a little sheepishly at me. My heart thumps, and I don’t want him to leave, but the softness of the bed I’m sinking in placates my desires for a moment. 

I hear the door open and close. Still feeling restless and unsatisfied, I pull Mizuki’s pillow into my chest and curl up against it. I inhale his musky scent. It isn’t as strong as an alpha’s pheromones, but it was still nice. 

I must have dozed off because it felt like only a moment later that Mizuki was back. He gives me the medication which I take without fuss. I’m too wrung out to even think right now. 

“Hey,” Mizuki says, “It’s too dangerous to take you home this late with you in heat. I don’t mind you staying here, but I’ll need my pillow back.” He gingerly tugs it out from my arms. I blush a little, realizing that he’s seen me snuggling it. 

The medication is already beginning to work- my thinking is clearer, but I am wanting to sleep more than anything now. Mizuki takes the pillow and lays it at the end of his couch. He unfolds a spare blanket from the closet and settles in. He turns on the tv and relaxes, propped up on an elbow. I listen to the murmurs from the television set. The room lights up with muted whites and blues. I think I recognize what he’s watching, but before I can think of the name, I am quickly swept away by sleep. 


	2. Butterflies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba tries to forget the fiasco that happened at the Rib scrimmage by going to the Black Needle. There he meets a moody teen with a lot of piercings.

_Huge blue and black butterflies._

_Their wings flap silently. There are hundreds of them. All flapping, fluttering, folding. They’re beautiful._

_My hands reach for them, but they’re always just out of reach. Flying away from me._

_Sadness overwhelms me. They’re leaving me… Always leaving me. I feel so lonely._

_Suddenly, I see a boy run forward, throwing rocks at the butterflies, scaring them away._

_“Hey, stop that!” I say, quickly wiping away my tears._

_“Why? We don’t need them. We don’t need anyone.” The boy declares. He turns and I see that he looks just like me, save his eyes. They’re bright yellow. They’re almost glowing._

_“We can do whatever we want,” he grins mischievously. He opens his hands and I see he’s caught one of the butterflies. He grabs onto both wings and jerks. The butterfly is ripped to pieces._

Someone knocks at the door. I frown, my eyes still shut, and roll over. I tuck my arms tightly around me, winding myself in the blanket. I hear light footsteps walk from the couch to the front door, which Mizuki opens. He’s talking to someone, but the voice is too muffled to make out. I fall back asleep again.

_I’m back in the field I dreamt about before, but all the butterflies are gone. No… they’re not gone. They’re all on the ground. They’ve all been shredded and torn apart._

_I see the boy, admiring his handiwork._

_“How could you do this…?” I asked, in shock at the carnage spread out as far as I could see._

_“You mean how could_ you _do this,” he smirks._

_“What do you mean?”_

_He steps forward and grabs my hand, forcing it to my face. At first, I resist but then I notice the tiny bits of blue and black dust and sticky bits on my hands. My hands look just like his._

_“You did this, ‘Aoba.’ Because I am you.”_

_“No, I’m not you… I wouldn’t do this!”_

_“But you did.” His glowing eyes sparkle. I see that he’s changing- we both are- into our older, present day selves. “I know what you really want. You want to destroy. I know it because I am you.”_

_“No!” I yell and punch him in the jaw. I feel a sharp pain explode in my jaw just as I hit him. He stumbles back, clutching his face. His lip is bleeding. I feel something trickle down my chin. I’m bleeding too. We are the same person…he had said._

_He wipes the blood off with the back of his hand, laughing delightfully._

_“You won’t be able to deny me much longer. Your heats make it easier for me to escape. You won’t be able to pretend I don’t exist anymore. And when that happens, I’m going to do exactly what we desire.”_

_I scowl and run at him, attempting to tackle him to the ground. But just as I try to grab him, he disappears, and I hit the ground._

  


“Hey, Aoba,” says Mizuki, shaking my shoulder. “Aoba, don’t you have work today?” Mizuki pats my arm, trying to rouse me.

“Hmm? Oh… yeah,” I croak groggily and turn my face into the pillow.

“Yeah?” Mizuki laughs, bemused. “Shouldn’t you get going? The alarm on your coil’s been going off for thirty minutes now.”

“Huh?” I sit up and feel completely disoriented, “Wuh… Mizuki?”

“Yeah?”

“Why am I at your apartment…” I stop, the memories of losing control of my body, being dragged into a back alley, and Mizuki carrying me to his apartment come back to me.

“…Mizuki,” I say, not sure where to begin, “I’m so sorry-”

Mizuki interrupts me with a cough and scratches the back of the head.

“No no no, it’s fine. I mean that was your first heat wasn’t it?”

“…Um… yeah. I think so… I guess,” I say, face burning.

“See? It wasn’t your fault, so no reason to apologize. Well, your grandma said to take another dose of this medication and to see her after work.”

“Work…” I echo, confused again, “Oh! Oh no!” I check the time. I had only five minutes until the start of my shift.

“Shit! My uniform is in my bag!” I had set it down when I ran to Koujaku yesterday and had been dragged away by that Ribsteez fighter before I could pick it up again.

“Don’t worry, Koujaku stopped by this morning with it. He wanted to know if you were alright.” Mizuki jabs a thumb over his shoulder, pointing at my bag sitting in front of the door.

A wave of relief flows over me. I faintly remember someone stopping by this morning. So, it had been Koujaku.

I throw the blanket off of me and rush to leave.

“Thanks for looking out for me last night,” I say, “I really appreciate it. If you hadn’t have stopped that guy, then I may have gotten in some serious shit.”

Mizuki laughs awkwardly, “Don’t mention it. In fact, let’s never mention what happened to anyone.”

I stop putting my shoe on and stare at Mizuki. He’s rubbing the back of his neck and smiling to hide his embarrassment.

“I didn’t… we didn’t…” I search my mind frantically. I remember feeling him up and suddenly I can’t bring myself to look at him.

“Nothing too far, but you were a little handsy,” he smiles, eyes squinting.

“I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to.” My heart is pounding. It reminds me of the sensations I was felling last night. I feel so ashamed.

“Like I said, you couldn’t control it, so there’s no reason to apologize. But you’re going to have to apologize a lot if you wanna keep your job.”

“Shit,” I check my coil again. My shift has already started. I tell Mizuki that I’ll catch him later and run out the door. Mizuki’s apartment is a bit closer to the ice cream shop than granny’s is, so I only arrive about ten minutes late. The manager isn’t amused to see me rush in, face flushed and panting from running as quickly as I could. I apologize profusely and the manager doesn’t do much more than give me an annoyed look. He starts me off by having me wash the bathrooms. The rest of the workday goes roughly the same as the first day. I try to focus on work and not think about what had happened the evening before.

After my shift ends, I go home like Mizuki had instructed. Granny made a medication to help suppress pheromones. I had been dreading her talking about my first heat, but to my relief she didn’t have much to say beyond instructing me to take my medication every day. I realize that granny probably doesn’t know much about heats or ruts that omegas and alphas experience. I grimace, remembering the alpha I’d sent into a rut when I went into heat in front of him. After experiencing firsthand how my reason had been overridden by my heat, I couldn’t blame the weary faces of other alphas trying to keep their composure. Koujaku’s face flashes through my mind. I remember him abandoning me in the crowd. I swallow. _Did Koujaku leave so he wouldn’t be forced into his rut?_ I involuntarily imagine not Hagima, but Koujaku pulling me into the back alley. His long, slender hands touching me. His impassioned breathing; his mouth covering mine. I shiver and try to force the fantasy from my mind.

“What’s wrong, Aoba?” Ren looks up at me with his large black eyes, head tilted. His pink tongue is peaking out. When I got home he’d ran to my side and hasn’t left me since. He’d been worried when he saw that my readings indicated that I had gone into my first heat and not come home.

I gently scratch behind his ears.

“Rrren.” I groan, “Why didn’t your sensors pick up that I was about to go into heat? I could have avoided everything that happened yesterday if we had known.”

“It seems that your readings were abnormal and did not indicate your heat until you had already gone into it.”

“Sounds about right,” I say, rolling my eyes.

I pull Ren into a hug.

“I wish mom and dad were here. And Sei,” I sigh. “Granny’s a beta, so she doesn’t really know much about what it’s like to experience the effects of pheromones. And I don’t really know any other omegas…”

“Ah, so you want to talk to someone who can empathize with you.”

“Um, I probably wouldn’t say it that way, but… yeah.” I feel a little sorry for myself. Ren is doing his best to be supportive, but I’d prefer talking to someone who knows how I feel.

My brother Sei and I are both omegas. My secondary sex traits began to manifest when I was thirteen, but it was pretty obvious to my parents that Sei and I were going to be omegas. We were both smaller and fairer than the other kids our age. Mom is also an omega, and dad is an alpha. When we were younger dad explained to Sei and I what it meant to be an omega. He said that when we were older, we would meet a special person who we could share our lives and experiences with. If we wanted children of our own, that person would be an alpha. But some omegas bond with betas or other omegas.

“When I grow up, I wanna marry daddy!” I proclaimed. That made Sei giggle.

“You can’t marry your daddy, he’s married to mommy,” Sei said.

That irked me and pinched him. He cried and of course, I got in trouble. I later caught a frog and chased Sei with it for revenge.

My adoptive mother was actually taken in by grandma after she had ran away from her abusive parents. Because of the abuse, mom is unable to have children of her own. She met dad and they were equally free spirits and wanted to explore the world together. They found me and Sei on a beach nearby the church which housed us. They gave us names and legally adopted us. My adoptive parents and my twin brother love to travel together. I didn’t want to leave granny alone, so I didn’t travel with them. But I missed them so much when they would leave.

It’s been years since we’ve had any contact with them- Sei, mom and dad. As time went on, I wondered if they ever would come back at all… I stopped rushing to the door every time someone knocked. I’ve stopped hoping.

The memories of my early childhood with my family are bittersweet. Thinking of my parents and Sei make my chest hurt.

I remember that my dad would come back with wild stories about the things they had seen on their travels. I remember one story he had about massive blue and black butterflies…

I stop my train of thought. For some reason, I try to push that memory down. I feel queasy.

I put my headphones on. The music calms my racing thoughts and clears my mind enough to drift into a blissful sleep.

  


The next morning I’m off work so I am taking Ren for a walk. We are going around our usual block when we hear a commotion at one of the stands that sells antiques. The shop owner is yelling at a figure in white, who is on the ground bowing profusely.

“You break it, you buy it!” the shop keeper shouts.

“I’m sorry!” The figure in a long white lab coat and a green scarf pleads, “I’m sorry! I don’t have enough money to cover it, and I don’t have a way to contact my grandpa-”

“Then I’m calling the police!”

The one in the coat slumps, defeated. I waiver, hearing the pleading tone in his voice makes my chest hurt a little.

“Aoba?” Ren says, seeing that I’d stopped.

Before I could second guess myself, I call out to them.

“Wait! Maybe I can help.”

The figure in white’s head snaps my way and I see he is wearing a gasmask. I halt, eyes wide. I inwardly kick myself for speaking up without knowing more of the details. But it is too late not to get involved now.

“Really? You’ll help me?” Even with the gasmask on I can tell his eyes are sparklingly. I could swear that I see pink flowers appear around him.

“Um… If I can…” I address the shop keeper who is still fuming. “What did he break?”

“He broke an irreplaceable glass sculpture. The glass factory that made this went out of business years ago! It was one of a kind!” On the ground are glittering shards of clear and yellow-streaked glass. It is so destroyed that I had trouble making out what it had been. But it definitely looks like it had been expensive.

“Ehehe,” I laugh nervously, “So, um how much do you need?”

I have a feeling that the shop keeper demanded a higher price than the sculpture had been worth, but I pay him just to get him off our backs. Thankfully, I’m able to pay, even doing so will burn up a good chunk of my savings. I sigh sadly at my savings account balance on my coil.

“Thank you so much!” The guy in the gasmask grabs me in a hug and squeezes so tightly that it hurts.

“Hey, l-let go!” I squeak, unable to breathe.

“I’m sorry, it’s just… you didn’t have to do that, and you really saved me back there!” His hands are balled by his sides and he stands on his tippy toes. His demeanor reminds me of a kid.

“It’s no problem, I needed the good karma,” I smile sheepishly, not sure if I really am glad that I’d gotten involved with this weirdo. Gasmask looks at me expectedly and I feel a little awkward, “Well… um, see you around.” I say and wave goodbye.

I put my hands in my jacket pockets and walk a couple blocks when I hear the sound of footsteps not far behind me.

 _Don’t tell me._ Using my peripheral vision, I glance behind me to see that the weirdo is following me. My hair stands on end.

“…Aoba,” Ren whispers.

“I know,” I whisper back and sigh. I stop to turn and face Gasmask, who waves cheerily at me.

“Is there something else you need?” I ask, forcing a smile.

“No, I’m just waiting to see if there’s some way I can repay your kindness. I can’t pay you back with money, so-”

“Now wait a second,” I interrupt, “You don’t have to repay me. I wanted to help so I did. That’s all.”

“Uwah! You’re so kind!” Gasmask exclaims.

“Eh… yeah. So, you don’t need to follow me-” I try to take my leave, but he suddenly runs in front of me and blocks my path.

“I’m Clear. What’s your name?”

“Eep!” I yell, jumping back from him. How did he move so fast?

“Umm… I’m Aoba.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Aoba-san.”

“…Likewise,” I say. This guy is really starting to wear on my patience.

“And what’s your Allmate’s name?” He squats in front of Ren and fluffs Ren’s fur with his white gloves. Ren looks up at me with pleading eyes as if he is saying, _Aoba, help_.

I pick Ren up and hold him defensively in the crook of my arm.

“His name is Ren. Sorry, he doesn’t like being touched by people he doesn’t know well.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. He just looked so fluffy; I couldn’t help myself!”

I laugh despite myself. This guy… really has no sense of boundaries.

“Well, then,” says Clear, “There has to be someway I can repay you. I’m good at housework-”

“Oh, I can think of a couple things…” I mutter to myself and I am surprised when he perks his head up like he had heard me.

“Great! What can I do?”

“You can go away!” I blurt out before I can think better of it. But Clear seems completely unphased.

“Okay,” he says curtly, pulling a vinyl umbrella from his coat pocket. _How in the hell had that fit in there?_

“Well, have a good afternoon, Aoba-san, Ren-san.” He turns on his heal and walks in the opposite direction of where I was going. I look up to see that the sky is clear without a cloud in the sky.

“Wah- huh?” And then Clear is gone.

I look at Ren in my arms, whose head is crooked and tongue sticking out. He appears to be just as confused as I am.

“…I have a feeling we’ll be seeing him again.” I say.

“Ah. The likelihood of that happening is high.”

  


After the run-in with Clear, I decide to go to Black Needle to cut loose. The past couple days have been exhausting, but I don’t want to spend more time brooding over it at home. I think my best course of action is to get back out there as soon as possible.

It’s only three o’clock when I stop by so they aren’t open yet, but Mizuki lets me in when he sees me at the door.

“Hey, Aoba! I didn’t expect you to drop by so soon,” Mizuki slaps my shoulder in a friendly way, “And Ren, too.”

“Good evening, Mizuki,” Ren says, poking out of my bag.

“Well, I thought I’d get out of the house a bit before Granny put me to work.”

“So you came here? Hm… I don’t know, I may put you to work too,” he laughs. “Having more Ribsteez teams in the area has been good for business, but bad for my back.” Mizuki puts his hands on his hips, leans back and winces.

“You wouldn’t care to carry some of the vodka cases in here, would you Aoba?”

I smile impishly. “Nah… I wouldn’t mind. If I can get a few free drinks later on tonight?”

Mizuki snorts, “If you could actually hold your liquor, I would hesitate to agree. But seeing as even most chicks can outdrink you…”

“Shut up!” I scoff and head to the storage room to help restock the bar.

Just before opening time I notice that a sizeable crowd had already formed outside. The evening light is orange, casting the crowded streets in long, faint shadows.

One of Black Needle’s bouncers opens the doors and checks IDs on coils as the crowd files inside. I casually sip on a glass of warm sake at the bar. Ren is in sleep mode in my bag, recharging from his walk we went on earlier.

I recognize some of the regulars. We exchange pleasantries, and Mizuki takes orders and serves drinks along with a new part-timer.

The bar is becoming louder with music and chatter. There are a lot of foreigners I realize. There are groups of similarly dressed people with matching tag arts. One group all had shaved heads and red robes; I guess they’re trying to look like Shaolin monks. Another group is wearing all black. They have long, braided black hair, skin-tight black clothing, and they even go as far to wear black-out contacts. I think they look a little intimidating; just looking at them sets my nerves on edge. But I roll my eyes. All these people looking like freaks just for some fighting game. Don’t they care what people think?

I go to drink my sake again and realize my glass is empty. I turn it upside down and wait for things to slow down before asking Mizuki for another.

Amongst the crowd I noticed someone who really stood out. It was a younger Caucasian guy with his face full of metal. He wore a blue and green beanie with piercings on his eyebrows, the bridge of his nose, and bottom lip. He wears a white button-up with a green tie. He has a large yellow button of a smiley face with sharp, bloody teeth. In this crowd of burly figures, his slender frame and baby face certainly stand out.

 _Who would want to fill their face with so many holes?_ I think and shudder.

I must have been staring because he notices me and we lock eyes. I try my best casually look away, but to my chagrin, he’s already coming my way.

“Would you mind if I gave you a kiss right now?”

I blink. That is the last thing I expected him to say.

“Do I… Do I know you?” I say.

“No. Why?”

“Erm, well I don’t normally just kiss strangers for starters.”

“Then let’s get acquainted. Can I have a drink with you?” He asks. “I’ll pay.” He pulls a stool up next to me before I can protest.

“Oh.. uh, sure? But you don’t need to pay, I know the owner.” _What’s with me attracting weirdos today?_

He’s sitting so close that our knees touch, and while he’s ordering a round of drinks, I subtly shift my leg away. I notice that I don’t smell any pheromones coming off of him. He must be a beta.

Mizuki gives us our drinks. I awkwardly twiddle with my glass, then lift it to my lips to drink it.

“Are you an omega?"

I choke on my drink and go into a fit of coughing.

“Why would you ask that?”

“Well, you’re the prettiest face in this bar... I don’t think it’s a good idea for an omega to come alone to a place like this,” his eyes survey my face. His expression is unreadable. If he wasn’t rubbing me the wrong way before, that last comment definitely does. I clench my teeth.

“Like I said before, I’m not alone. I know the owner, and I have no interest in hooking up with anyone.”

“Why not?”

“Because, I’m not that kind of omega,” I say through gritted teeth. I throw the rest of my shot back. _Who does this guy think he is?!_ The stranger chuckles softly. Is he mocking me?

“I wasn’t implying that you were a slut. I was just saying you should be careful,” I hear him mutter and I am only more irritated.

“What are you saying-?” I’m interrupted by a hand that clasps my shoulder. It’s Koujaku.

“Evening, Aoba,” he says but he’s not looking at me. Instead he’s assessing the guy next to me. He ignores Koujaku and tilts his drink into his mouth, “Who’s your friend?”

“Oh, Koujaku. This is…um,” I wait expectedly. The young stranger notices and glares, annoyed.

“Tch. Noiz.”

Koujaku’s expression hardens. _Oh boy._ Koujaku isn’t the one to tolerate disrespect.

“Hey… I know you. You’re that punk kid who’s the leader of the Rhyme team Ruff Rabbit, aren’t you?”

Noiz, rather than answer, waves for another round of drinks.

“Do you take all that metal out before you fight?” Koujaku presses. “It doesn’t seem too smart to fight with all that jewelry to grab onto.”

I feel increasingly awkward, “Hey Koujaku, why don’t you sit down and have some sake-”

“Do you need to fight with that giant sword? Or does it double as your cane, old man?” Noiz smirks and I can smell that Koujaku’s is reeking with anger pheromones. It seems to make the room spin. Mizuki, who just set our drinks down, notices that Koujaku is reflexively reaching for his sword.

“Hey, now,” he warns. “No fighting inside. Take it out back if you have to.” That seems to cool Koujaku off a little, but he’s still glaring at Noiz. I can almost see sparks from their glares colliding. I’m feeling a little queasy, so I stand up from my stool.

“Out back…” I murmur. “Yeah. I think I’m… gonna go catch some air.” I try to move as naturally as I can with my body feeling like it’s unraveling. I pull my bag on my shoulder. It takes all the concentration that I have. I think I hear Koujaku say my name, but he doesn't stop me. I’d only had three shots but maybe drinking them so fast on an empty stomach hit me harder than I expected.

The night air feels cool on my skin. There’s a light breeze that immediately helps me feel better. Instead of the pheromones, I smell the still-warm pavement that had been baking in the sun’s light all day. My head still spins a little, but I am feeling rejuvenated by the night. I reach in my bag to wake Ren up.

“Aoba.”

“Ren, can you navigate me home from this side? I don’t feel like going back through the bar.” He looks up at me for a second, silently evaluating me. Then he speaks.

“I wouldn’t advise it, but I can.”

“Alright, where do I go from here?”

“Turn at the next left.”

We make our way through the backstreets. Thankfully, most of the way is well lit and there aren’t a lot of people out here. I cross under an archway when I feel two hands grab my shoulders at the same time. I yelp and try to jump away, but their grips hold me firmly in place.

“Yahoo, Aoba.”

“Good evening, Aoba-san.”

I look and see two familiar alphas on either side of me. They’re wearing similar plaid clothing. They have matching blond hairstyles parted in opposite directions. The shorter one wears glasses and the taller one is smirking at me.

“Virus… Trip? Why the hell did you do that? What are you doing out here in a shady place so late?”

“We were on patrol,” Trip tells me coolly. 

“There are a lot of foreigners in the area, and we need to keep an eye out for any unsavory activity,” Virus says with a small grin.

“What about you, Aoba-san?”

“I was walking home.”

“Oh?” Virus speaks with mock concern, “It’s dangerous to walk through here alone.”

“Especially for an omega,” Trip says, stepping closer to me. My face reddens in embarrassment.

“Well, it’s not like I planned to, it just turned out this way…” I began to feel that dizzying sensation again. My head was getting cloudy.

“Especially for an omega in heat,” Virus says, stepping closer to my other side. I realize too late that they are strongly releasing their pheromones. I’m reminded of my encounter with Hagima when he dragged me into an alley.

 _Let me out_ , a loud voice sounds in my head. _Switch with me!_

My vision darkens. I feel my knees buckle and I fall into Trip’s arms.


	3. Desire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sly Blue emerges for the first time to find himself in a 3-way.

Sly Blue

_Oh… I like where this is going._

I’m in an alpha’s arms. He’s supporting my weight with his muscular arms. I feel the light expanding and falling of his chest against me. His smell is exhilarating.

 _Nice work, ‘Aoba,’_ I think. I knew we had gone into heat the second that Koujaku released his pheromones in front of me again. It was probably accidental, as it’s natural for alphas to do when angry, but ‘Aoba’ hadn’t wanted to acknowledge his heat. He wanted to believe he was just drunk. And he ended up running into the arms of two alphas.

_Oh well, it’s not like I’m complaining._

I reach my arm up behind me and teasingly stroke Trip’s jawline. He grabs my hand and nibbles on my fingertips. His mouth is warm and wet. Virus pressed up against my front, stroking a hand up my stomach. His light touch gives me goosebumps.

“Do you want to go to a hotel, Aoba-san?” Virus taunts. He takes some of my hair in his hand and lightly tugs. The nerves in my hair tingle and itch. It hurts and I grimace, but my body shivers. Trip lets go of the hand he was biting and reaches around to grope my ass and thighs.

I moan loudly. Unrestrained. I want more.

“I don’t want to wait,” I whisper huskily, pressing myself harder against Trip, pulling Virus onto me. I lace my arms around Virus’s neck and pull him into the crook of my own. I gasp when I feel him bite and lick at my skin. The wet sounds close to my ear are so lewd.

“Mmmn… fwah… ah… More! I want more!” I demand obscenely. My cock is bulging against my jeans. I am dying for them to touch me there.

“Aoba-san,” Virus murmurs against me. He lifts my shirt up. He teases and tweaks my nipples. Trip undoes my belt and unzips my pants.

Strangely, even though I am sandwiched between these two alphas, I smell another’s pheromone that is overpowering Trip’s and Virus’s. It smells strangely sweet and is so intoxicating I think I can’t settle for anyone else’s right now. They must smell the newcomer too because they pull away from me and look back down the way that led back to the Black Needle.

A tall man in olive green tactical clothes with long braids and a pink headband is approaching us. A large pink Cockatiel is perched on his shoulder. Even though it’s dark, I can see that his eyes are a bright, golden color. When they lock onto mine, I shiver.

“Let him go,” he orders. His voice is deep and gravely.

 _Tonight just got way better,_ I think, running my tongue across my lips.

Virus and Trip don’t try to stop me from practically skipping over to this new stranger. Their faces are hard and expressionless.

The stranger walks into a side alley without a word and I follow him. I stop and take one last look at Trip and Virus and stick my tongue out at them, and I duck back into the alley way.

Aoba

My head is swimming. _How long has it been since I just felt normal?_

I’d fallen against something- maybe I’d tripped.

“Aoba, are you okay?” Ren asks, licking my face. I groan. I can’t remember how I’d gotten here. I remember asking Ren to navigate me home, but I don’t recall anything else.

“Yeah,” I utter, “I think I’m alright.”

A pair of boots stop in front of me. I look up to see someone really tall with long hair and dark skin. I guess he’s a foreigner. His pheromones smell amazing. They smell like cinnamon…

“What are you doing?” He demands gruffly.

Feeling embarrassed, I try to lift myself up, but my arms do little more than wiggle and I collapse again. The concrete’s hard, yet cool. _Maybe I can just lay here_ -

The stranger interrupts my thoughts by lifting me up by my arm. The sudden feeling of weightlessness makes my stomach flutter. He sets me on my feet, and I feel a chill of excitement tingle up my spine. He really is a mountain of a man...

“Thanks,” I say and bend over to help Ren into my bag. He quietly got in and watches us resignedly.

The taller man’s eyes scrutinize me.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“H-huh?”

“You went into heat in a public place packed with alphas, and then ran into a dangerous part of town. Do you have a death wish?”

“No, I-”

“Then are you some sort of slut?”

Indignation wells up in my chest- clearing up my thoughts. I realize that what I had done had been stupid, but that doesn’t mean I have to put up with being insulted by this stranger.

“It was an accident-” I start to defend myself and he cuts me off.

“How the hell does someone get into three-way on accident?”

All the blood drains from my face. That _really_ sobers me up.

“A three-way?” I echo. I can’t believe what he’s said- what I’d just said. _No… no way. I would never…_

The tall man looks stonily at me. It takes effort not to squirm under his gaze; it really is piercing. I don’t want to believe it, but this guy doesn’t look like the type to play pranks.

I gulp.

“A three-way… with you?”

“Tch,” he spins away from me walks out of the alley.

“Hey, wait! What happened to me?” I call after him, but he’s already disappeared down the road.

“Ren, what happened while I was blacked out?” I ask. I feel him startle. He looks of to the side.

“It appears you went into heat and initiated physical contact with Trip and Virus.” If he were a human, I imagine he would have cleared his throat. Was he embarrassed? More importantly… I’d almost done something reprehensible… So, had the Cinna-man saved me from taking things too far?

…

Whatever had happened, I’m too tired to care much about it right now. I just want to go home and rest.

“Ren, can you give me directions home?”

“Of course. We should arrive in ten minutes.”

“Thank god,” I mutter and drag myself the rest of the way home.

  


In the morning I tell Granny what happened the night before, leaving out the details about nearly getting in a three-way and the tall Cinna-man. She seems concerned, especially about the part of me blacking out. She says that she’d never heard of an omega blacking out and losing memories just because of their heat. So, she doubles my medication dose and tells me she’ll be visiting an old colleague for their opinion.

After taking my medication, I feel more like myself. I go to work and thankfully my shift passes uneventfully. Afterwards, I check my coil on my way home. I see I have a ton of missed calls from Koujaku. I have texts from him and Mizuki.

Mizuki: _Did you get home alright? Let me know when you get home. Hey are you alright?_

Koujaku: _Where are you? Did you make it home? Are you okay? I’m gonna stop by to check on you. Be there around seven._

I check my coil. It was fifteen til seven. _Jeez_ … I hadn’t meant to worry them, but I really just didn’t have the energy to interact with anyone last night, so I had silenced it and left it alone until now.

I send Mizuki a quick apology and let him know I’m fine. As for Koujaku, he is already hanging around in front of my house.

“Aoba,” he calls, standing up from the railing he’d been leaning against. “Thank God. When you didn’t answer and no one was home, I was really worried.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you. And sorry for running out last night. I…” I cut myself off. I wonder how much I should tell him.

“You went into heat… right?”

I blush. The way he’d awkwardly said that made it more embarrassing.

“You… hippo! Don’t say that so casually,” I scold him, flustered. I duck past him and unlock the front door. I don’t really want to invite him in right now, but I would feel bad turning him away after he came all this way just to check on me.

“Where is Tae-san?” he asks.

“She’s getting a second opinion. About my condition.”

“Your condition?”

_Huff._

“Yes, my _condition_.”

“Your heats?” Koujaku questions and I don’t say anything. “But… that’s natural? Most late bloomer omegas have erratic heats, right?”

I can feel my ears burning. I don’t want to have this conversation with Koujaku, the perfect alpha whom everyone loved. Just thinking about his fan club gets on my nerves. Seriously, who the hell has a fan club? Who did he think he was? He was never like this when we were younger…

“If that was all that was happening, it wouldn’t be so much of an issue. But I’m experiencing memory loss too.”

“Memory loss?”

“Yes,” I explain, “I blacked out during my heat last night.” He looks surprised.

“Aoba… If I had known I wouldn’t have let you leave on your own last night. Though I didn’t think you’d walk home the back way. Are you okay?”

We had walked up stairs into my room. I sit down on the edge of the bed. I shifted uncomfortably.

“Yeah, I think so.”

He sits down next to me and holds my shoulders, making me face him. He searches my eyes; his brows are knit together.

“Aoba…. No one bothered you, did they?” I pull away from him. My face must be blood-red. I feel humiliated. I can’t hide myself from Koujaku; he’s always been observant, and he can read me like an open book. How can I lie when he’s looking at me like that? Though I don’t have to say anything for Koujaku to get the message.

“So, something did happen. Damn it!” he curses, jerking his head to the side. “I’m such an idiot. This happened the first night too.”

“The first night?”

“The night of the scrimmage when you got your first heat. I should have-” He breaks off midsentence. I can smell that he’s angry.

“It’s alright, Koujaku. You weren’t in the condition to help me. And Mizuki helped me just fine. That reminds me… thank you for dropping of my bag. I’d forgotten about it completely.”

Koujaku broods in silence for a moment. I can see a vein pounding on his temple. Without him realizing it, Koujaku is putting off his pheromones. I feel dizzy.

_Why? Why was this making him so emotional?_

“What about last night, Aoba. Do you remember what happened? Did anyone hurt you?”

“I… I’m okay. I don’t remember everything, but I made it home alright. And Ren was with me. He told me nothing really happened.”

He freezes, body going rigid.

“Kouja-” I start to say, but Koujaku pulls me into a tight embrace. His heart is pounding through his chest. I can feel it through both of our clothes, “Koujaku…”

I know I should push him off of me, but he smells… wonderful. Without thinking, I return the embrace and deeply inhale his scent through his hair. I hear him gasp. He pulls away from me and I feel empty… As if an important piece of me has been ripped away. I want him to continue holding me tightly to him.

“Aoba,” he says throatily, “Stop. I’m sorry, your pheromones… I didn’t mean to send you into heat.”

“Sure, you didn’t,” I chuckle and scoot closer to Koujaku. I’m trapping him against the wall.

“Of course, I didn’t-” he starts to chide me, but his eyes widen, understanding dawning on his face. “Aoba… have you only gone in heat around me?”

I shrug, “Maybe… I don’t know. I’ve been around a lot of alphas lately. Like that Cinna-man.”

“Cinna-man?” He begins but I quickly silence him with a kiss. Smelling his pheromones this close… it’s indescribable. It’s really like nothing else I’ve experienced before. My eyelashes flutter. I feel an ache building in between my hips. My hands explore his chest, rubbing up along the silkiness of his kimono, slipping into it and touching bare skin. I hear his strained moan.

“Aoba, wait. Please.”

“What’s wrong? You don’t like it?”

Koujaku chuckles, “Of course I like it, Aoba. But I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret.”

“I won’t regret it,” I lean in for another kiss, but he stops me with a finger against my lips. I jerk in surprise and narrow my eyes in annoyance.

“I want that in writing,” he says.

“You want it in…?” I huff. “Idiot.” I lightly punch his shoulder. He laughs and gives me a heart-breakingly beautiful smile. It catches me off guard. Flighty sensations dance in my stomach. He very gently sweeps some of my hair out of my face and tucks it behind my ear.

“How do I know you’re not blacking out right now?”

“I’m not blacking out.”

“What if you don’t remember any of this?”

“I will.”

“You will?” He laughs again. “How can you be so sure?”

“I’ll make it memorable,” I whisper suggestively and boldly cup my hand against his package. That evokes a raised eyebrow out of Koujaku, then he smiles warmly. He pulls me into his chest and rests his chin on my forehead. Being in his arms feels nice… but I’m dying for more. I try to move my arm to touch him, but both my arms are pinned to my sides. I try to pull my arms out, but he tightens his grip.

“Hey, let go.”

“Nope,” he says in a singsong voice and leans his cheek against the top of my head. “You’ve lost your hand privileges for tonight.”

“Hand privileges?” I repeat, baffled. I try again to twist away from him, but he has an iron grip on me. Now it’s my turn to get angry. “Get off me!” I protest. Koujaku releases me from our embrace, but he keeps my arms pinned down by my sides.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you use your hands until you’ve learned to behave. Who knows what a bad boy like you will do with those things? Now, let’s see. You seem like the kinky type. Do you have any handcuffs in here?”

I scowl at him, my humiliation doubles from his relentless teasing and feeling helpless. He easily overpowers me. I give up trying to get away from him. The anger seems to make my heat subside. There’s a newfound clarity to my mind and I am suddenly oh-too aware that I am straddling Koujaku’s lap. My blush deepens.

“Um… Koujaku,” I turn my head away in embarrassment. “I’m… feeling better.”

“Oh? And how do I know this isn’t a trick?”

I cast a glare at him, “Shut up! Just let me go.”

“Alright, alright. As you wish,” he releases my wrists. I climb off his lap and the bed. My wrists feel cool where he’d been holding them. His hands had been sweating.

I walk over to sit by Ren, who is sleeping on his favorite pillow. I stroke his back gently. We sit in silence for a while. It feels incredibly awkward. The silence was uncomfortable. I had to say something…

“Koujaku?”

“Hmm?”

“…Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” he mutters. I notice that he looks a little uneasy. Like he’s holding back.

“Huh?” My heart jumps in my chest.

“I don’t deserve to be thanked. I…” He pauses, unsure of how to continue. “I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to stop…” He sighs and swallows before continuing, “You know how alphas can lose their reasoning ability, when they’re under the influence of an omega’s heat pheromones. And you know… I’m an alpha.”

I blink. “…Uh huh.”

“And you were- you _are_ an omega. And you were in heat. So, you were sending heat pheromones to… stir up alphas.”

“Koujaku, stop.”

“And you’re my omega friend. So, when I smelled your pheromones, I was afraid I would-”

“Okay! Okay, I get it! Jeez, could you say it more embarrassingly?”

So, I had been right. He had run the first time because I’d… _stirred him up_. And the second time he’d let me go because he was afraid he’d do something. But tonight… he hadn’t run. Hell, I’d been begging for him to do _something_. But he hadn’t.

“Koujaku… what was different about tonight?”

He sits quietly, in thought for a moment. Then he looks up at me with sincerity in his crimson eyes. His eyes… really are pretty.

“The thought of someone taking advantage of you in such a vulnerable state… makes my blood boil. I would never want to be that person, Aoba.”

My heart is pounding in my ears. I don’t know what to say to that. Or why that makes me feel the way it does.

“Well, it’s getting pretty late, so I should head home.”

I stand up the same time he does. He reaches for the doorknob and I latch on to his hand. He stops and looks back at me. I hang my head.

“Don’t…” I whisper. I don’t know why I do it. I’m just acting on impulse.

“Don’t what, Aoba?” He asks, his voice soft.

“Don’t go.”

“Aoba...” Koujaku’s taken off guard by my actions. To be honest, I am too, but I can’t stop. Not knowing what to do next, I just stare at the floor.

With his hand, he gently tilts my chin upward. His face is close enough to see specks of different shades of red in his irises.

“Aoba, I don’t think I can. Even if your heat isn’t as intense right now, I can tell that you’re ready to mate. And it’s taking everything I have to keep myself under control.” There’s no trace of joking now. I know normally I would be mortified, but I’m not. Instead, I feel hurt. Why was it so important to him to resist? If I were just another one of fan club, would he keep running away from me?

“Is it because I’m a guy?” I blurt out and he’s taken aback.

“What?”

“That you don’t want to sleep with me. Is it because I’m a guy?”

He frowns, “Aoba… that’s-”

“Would it embarrass you? If people found out that you slept with me? Am I not as good looking as the women in your fan club?” I know I’m being unfair, but for some reason, I can’t stop these emotions pouring out of me. I glare up at Koujaku, my nose and eyes start to sting.

Koujaku is speechless.

“You… you left me. First my mom, my dad and brother leave, and now you're pushing me away. You've become… this person I don’t recognize. I don’t understand you. I feel like I don’t even know you!” A tear drop rolls down my cheek and I brush it away with the back of my hand. “If I’m so repulsive to you, then why do you act like I’m still your friend?”

“…I’m not acting, Aoba. You are my friend.”

“Then why-”

“Wait,” Koujaku silences me by raising his hand, “Let me finish.” When I concede, he continues. “You are my precious friend. Our friendship is _precious_ to me. And I don’t want to do anything that would make you hate me. But based on what you just said, it seems like it’s too late for that.”

He opens the bedroom door and slams it behind him.

I sit down on the floor. Downstairs I hear the front door slam. It makes me flinch. I fold my arms across my knees and lay my head on my forearms.

I feel Ren’s tiny paws touch my arm. He stands on his hind legs and leans his front paws against me to stretch up and lick my face.

“Aoba, are you alright?”

I pick Ren up and pull him into a hug, trying to dull the pain I feel in my chest.

“…Yeah. I’ll be alright.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone reads this far, what can I say but arigato! I love omegaverse stories and I thought it'd be fun to try creating those alpha/beta/omega dynamics in DMMd. It's been really fun, but really difficult too. Honestly, I fretted so much that no one would be interested in this story, but that's okay. I had fun and if just one person enjoys it, then it will have been worth it :)


	4. Under My Umbrella

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba gets to know Clear a little better.

If I dreamed the night before, I don’t remember. I feel nothing. I feel numb. I do just enough to get by at work and go straight home afterwards. Granny’s home when I return; I can hear her preparing dinner in the kitchen. I realize that I’m really glad that she’s home. I can’t wait to see her. I’m happy that I don’t have to be alone right now.

Ren bolts down the stairs at a speed that’s impressive for his chubby, little body.

“Aoba, it’s terrible! Quickly, we have to go!” He urges in a hushed voice.

“Huh?” I say, taken aback. “What’s going on?”

“There’s no time to explain, hurry!”

“Aoba, is that you? Don’t be rude to our guest. Come in here and help set the table,” Granny orders from the kitchen.

“Guest?” I utter. I look at Ren; his ears lower in defeat.

“Good evening, Aoba-san!” A gasmasked figure suddenly appears from behind the door frame. I scream and instinctively throw my hands up to karate chop him.

“You? What are you doing here?”

“Aoba!” Granny scolds. 

“I’m sorry,” Clear bows his head, “I didn’t mean to scare you. Your granny knows my grandfather, and I told her that I knew you and how you’d helped me pay for the glass sculpture I broke. So, she invited me over for dinner.”

“Is that so? Ehehe… small world.” I snicker inwardly. _So, that’s why Ren wanted to run_.

“Aoba,” Granny glares disapprovingly at me. “His grandfather and I worked together at the Toue Konzern years ago before they were shut down. He knows a lot more about omega physiology than I do. We’ve created a few different formulas for you to try.”

“Tae-san told me that you don’t know any omegas, so I thought I could answer any questions you have,” Clear says cheerfully. I notice he’s wearing a frilly, pink apron. It must be his own because I know Granny would never wear anything like that. He must have been helping prepare dinner.

“Oh…” I say, “Actually, I do have some questions.”

“That’s great, Aoba-san! I’ll answer everything to the best of my ability!” I can’t read his expression because he’s still wearing that gasmask, but he sounds sincere. Clear’s energy can be a little overwhelming, it’s the antithesis of Ren’s gentle nature, but I don’t think he means any harm. And it would be nice to have an omega friend.

For the first time today, I smile.

  


After dinner, Clear and I retreat to my room. Being in here is a reminder of the night before, so I suggest we go out on the balcony to talk.

“Oh, that’s a shame,” Clear says.

“What is?”

“That building’s so close to us that we can’t see the stars.”

I look up and can barely make out of couple stars, but most of it is blocked out by the light pollution, and the roof of our house and our neighbor’s. Clear surprises me by suddenly jumping up and climbing onto the roof.

“H-hey! What are you doing?” I shout.

“It’s okay, Aoba-san. The view's better up on the roof. Here,” Clear offers his gloved hand to me. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you fall,” he assures me.

I look at his hand. His demeanor is different from before. He’s much calmer and more serious. It’s almost like he’s a different person. For some reason when he says he won’t let me fall… I believe him. I take his hand and he hoists me up easily. My eyes widen; he’s much stronger than he looks.

The roof tiles are unexpectedly warm. They still hold the heat from today’s sunshine. It feels nice. We sit a while and look out at the lights coming from the shopping and night districts.

“So, are you the only omega in your family?” Clear breaks the silence.

“Um, no I’m not. But before we talk about that, can I ask why you’re wearing a gasmask?”

Clear turns his gaze back to the city lights. “Oh, this? It’s nothing. I can take it off anytime. I just… don’t want to.”

“You don’t want to?”

“My grandpa told me once that I have a strange face, so I want to hide it.”

I’m utterly confused. Why would anyone’s grandfather tell them something like that? Did Granny know about this? Come to think about it, she hadn’t mentioned anything about him. This guy really was mysterious. I judge by his reaction that he really doesn’t want to talk about it, so I let it go.

“My mom and twin brother are omegas… and my dad’s an alpha. But I haven’t seen them in years. Not since I was a kid,” I sigh, leaning back against the roof. The warmth seeps through my shirt. I realize how exhausted I am.

“Why is that?”

I tilt my head back and look up at the sky. I get a feeling of vertigo. As if I’m upside down and I could fall at any moment into the darkness.

“I don’t know…” I answer honestly. “They used to travel when I was younger, but they always came back. Then one day, they said they were going to leave for a long, long time.” My eyes lower. I don’t know why I’m confessing to Clear, but I feel comfortable telling him this.

“I guess what they really meant was they weren’t coming back.”

“Aoba-san… that’s awful. I’m so, so sorry,” Clear apologizes sincerely and I’m faintly reminded of him apologizing to the storekeeper when I first met him. I chuckle a little. Maybe because if I don’t, I’ll cry.

“It’s okay. That was a long time ago. I’m just glad to be here with Granny. And I have Ren and other good friends. I suppose that without my parents and brother… I feel lost sometimes. Like I’m not whole. I don’t know how else to describe it.”

“That’s understandable, Aoba-san. If I were to lose my grandpa, I’m not sure what I would do. I know I can’t hold onto him forever, but I wish I could. I guess I would say I’m worried about feeling disconnected from everyone else.”

I close my eyes, thinking about what he just said. I could relate; I worry about losing Granny often. Without her- I would have no family. The thought is painful, so I try to push it from my mind.

“Aoba-san, are you asleep?”

I open my eyes and startle, he’s just inches away from my face.

“Wah! What the hell?!”

“You were snoring. Did you fall asleep?” he inquires, standing up and dusting off his lab coat. He offers his hand to me and helps me up. My cheeks burn in chagrin.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to doze off,” I mumble.

“I don’t mind at all, Aoba-san. We can always talk another time. I’m glad you shared what you did,” I imagine he’s smiling kindly behind his gasmask. I feel the desire to reach forward and take it off. I want to see what he looks like. He can’t look any stranger than some of the rib fighters I’ve seen. Perhaps another day…

Clear hops down to the balcony first and helps me down. Again, I’m surprised by this omega’s strength. He must be hiding some serious muscle under his oversized lab coat. I change into some pajamas and offer to roll out a futon for Clear, but he declines, saying he’d rather stay out on the roof. I’m perturbed but say nothing.

Ren gets into bed with me and curls up by my side. I absent mindedly stroke his fur, letting my thoughts drift.

Just as I’m falling asleep, I hear a soothing melody drift in through the window. 

  


The next morning I’m up earlier than usual, so I lazily browse the web on my coil. The sky’s a bright pale blue and birds are chirping outside of my window. Ren is still in sleep mode, curled up against my stomach. I wake him by stroking his head. His eyes open and look up at me.

“Good morning, Aoba.”

“Good morning, Ren.”

“You’re making a habit out of waking up before me,” he says, stretching and yawning. He shakes his head flapping his ears against his fuzzy head.

“I’m not meaning to, I just am,” I yawn too and stretch my arms above my head.

Seeing Ren reminds me that Clear was here the night before. I wonder if he’s still here. I cautiously check the roof, but there’s no one there. So, I get dressed and head downstairs.

Granny’s at the table sipping from a mug of coffee. She’s listening to the television turned on in the family room.

“Good morning, Granny.”

“Morning.”

“Did Clear leave?”

“He’s just running to the grocery store for me. He should be back any minute now,” she says and takes a long drink from her mug. The news that he hasn’t left makes me feel pleased. I was worried that he had just disappeared as abruptly as he'd came. “Did you sleep well? Is your medication working?”

“Oh, I need to take it,” I’d forgotten. I wasn’t used to taking medication. I run upstairs and stop abruptly; I hear movement in my room. The hair on the back of my neck stands up.

_An intruder?_

Before I can act, Clear walks out of my room and waves at me. He’s carrying a few bags from the market across town.

“Good morning, Aoba-san. Did you sleep well?” He asks pleasantly.

“Wuh,” _how can he act so normal?_ “What were you doing in my room? You weren’t there a minute ago.”

“Oh, I came in through the balcony.”

“But you weren’t on the roof…” I search my memory. Was my mind playing tricks on me?

“I traveled to the store and back on the rooftops. It’s faster that way,” he asserts that as if it what he just said didn’t sound crazy. _Is this guy some kind of alien?_

“By the way, I got you something,” he says, and digs in his pockets. He pulls out a small, jellyfish plushie. It has frilly tendrils and heart-shaped eyes.

“Eh?”

“It kind of looks like that jellyfish sculpture I knocked over. It’s yellow and white like that one was.” I take the plushie in my hands. It honestly looks so ridiculous that I chuckle. I think it’s actually kind of sweet. No one’s ever bought me something like this. Something this sentimental. I comb my fingers through its tendrils, and it tickles. I set it on the glass top of my table.

“Thanks, Clear. But you know, an even better way to thank me would be to pay me back,” I tease.

“Uwah! I would if I could, Aoba-san! I don’t have that kind of money yet!”

“Haha, I’m just teasing, Clear. Come on, let’s go help Granny make breakfast.”

  


After saying goodbye to Clear, Granny and Ren after breakfast, I head to work. Today it’s overcast and looks like it’s going to rain soon.

“Damn, I should have brought my umbrella,” I say to myself. _Oh well, it’s not that far of a walk. I hope it doesn’t rain until I get inside. Maybe I can find a vendor_ …

My thoughts are interrupted loud footsteps walking across a metal roof. Clear lands in front of me with a heavy thud. He stares at silently at me through the gasmask eyeholes. For a moment, I’m scared. _Is he alright?_

“Aoba-san, sorry to stop you, but we didn’t finish our chat last night.”

“Erm… no, we didn’t. But it’ll have to wait, I need to get to work-”

“No, you need to wait,” he blocks my path. It’s early enough in the morning that the streets are still fairly empty. I shrink away from him. The night before it seemed like he had a personality shift, but this feels… different. Dangerous.

“Okay, I’ll wait. What is it you want to tell me?” His head tilts back. I can’t tell, but he seems to have an air of smugness about him.

“It’s about a little conversation your ‘granny’ had with my grandfather. It seems she regrets ever stealing you and your brother from the Toue Konzern.”

My body goes cold. I feel lightheaded.

“What?” I ask breathlessly.

“You and your twin are a botched experiment. You’re a couple of freaks with no real mother or father. She took pity on you both and tried to give you a proper burial, but when it turned out you were alive, she dumped you at the church.”

“That’s ridiculous-” I start to say but Clear guffaws nastily.

“Ridiculous? Are you that stupid? Why do you think your hair has nerves in? It’s because you and your brother were made in a test tube, conjoined at the hair. Or what about your missing memories? Do you think that’s normal? Any guesses why that’s happening?” He steps closer. I try to shrink away but my back hits a wall.

“It’s because you,” he jabs his finger into my chest, “are a ticking timebomb. You’re a weapon made to destroy.” My heart is racing. I want to deny him. I want to shove him away and scream that he’s wrong but… I remember the me with yellow, glittering eyes. His desire for destruction and death. And my hands covered in the carnage of the butterflies. Was he real?

A sudden migraine blurs my vision. I inhale a sharp breath and clutch at my skull.

 _Acknowledge me_ , the voice in my head says.

I fall to my knees. The pain is so intense, I feel like I’m going to vomit. If… if Clear is telling the truth, then that means…

“Everyone leaves you because they’re afraid of you. And for good reason. You’re a monster.”

I hear Clear’s footsteps getting further and further away. I’m left crouching against a wall, gritting my teeth in pain. I… I have this gut feeling that everything he tells me is true. I don’t belong anywhere. No one in this world wants me…

 _We don’t need them_ , the voice says. _We can do whatever we like. We can be free. So, switch. Switch with me_.

I’m afraid. I don’t know what will happen if I relinquish control. But I also… I also can’t take this pain anymore. The crushing agony I feel in my chest is worse than the migraine I feel. Tears well up in my eyes.

“Okay,” I mumble aloud. “I’ll do it. I’ll switch with you.”


	5. Make Some Noiz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sly Blue and Noiz make some noise.

Sly Blue

I immediately feel better once I take over. It’s been a while since I’ve been out longer than the few minutes I had with Trip and Virus. _Honestly, ‘Aoba’ is so irritating. To try and delude himself that I don’t exist…_ I clinch my fists. 

_Tch._

_Oh well._ I relax and smile. _It feels good to be back. So, what should I do first? I know I’m definitely not going back to that ice cream shop. Hm, how much money do I have?_ While I’m checking my coil I hear someone call out to me. 

“Aoba-san!”

I look over and see Clear running over to me. _Hmph._

“Aoba-san, I’m glad I found you. You forgot your umbrella. It’s supposed to rain later today.” 

“How thoughtful, but I don’t need it,” I sneer at him. I think a second then say, “Actually, can I borrow your vinyl umbrella?”

“You want… my umbrella?” he asks, his hands are balled up in front of him. His demeanor is back to a childish one. Again, he’s completely different than before. This guy’s personality changes rival even mine. 

“Yeah, don’t you carry it in your pocket?” I say and he still hesitates. “Just give it to me, Clear. You still owe me, remember?” 

“Oh… I… I’m sorry,” his head lowers and he pulls the umbrella from his pocket and hands it over to me.

“Hm, these are hard to find, huh? I’ve never seen one in Midorijima, other than yours.” 

“Yes, my grandpa brought it from mainland Japan.”

“It must be pretty special to you?” I murmur. 

“Yes, so please be careful-”

I bring Clear’s umbrella down over my leg, snapping it in half. The stem is shattered, the wires bent beyond repair. In an instant, it’s destroyed. I toss it at his feet and pull the hood of my jacket up.

“Looks like I won’t be needing it after all. What good’s a broken piece of junk like that?” I walk past him, hitting him with my shoulder. 

“…Why? Aoba-san, why would you-?”

“Why would I what?” I challenge him and he falls silent. _Looks like that takes care of him._ I continue down the sidewalk. I take a last look back at him. Clear’s crouched picking up the tiny shards of plastic of his broken umbrella. 

Honestly, I’ve gone easy on Clear. I want to hurt him more for what he did to ‘Aoba,’ but I can feel ‘Aoba’ protesting inside of me. So, I decide to look for another outlet for my frustration. 

I grin. I know exactly who I want to see. 

  
“Hey there,” I say in a singsong voice and the tall blonde looks up from his projected screens. I’ve found him at the only pub in the area. He’s indulging in a slice of pizza. It looks good, so I take a piece and bite into it.

“Hey,” Noiz says tentatively but a grin tugs on the corner of his lips when he sees who I am. “Oh. Help yourself. I owe you for those drinks after all.”

“I think I will,” I slide up onto the stool and purposely rub my leg against his own. “Mmmn,” I moan, and make eye contact with him while taking another bite. “I haven’t had fattening European food in forever.” 

“Fattening European food is all I eat,” Noiz mutters. His eyes are drawn to my mouth. Just like I suspected; this guy’s a perv. 

“Be careful, your metabolism won’t keep you thin forever. How old are you anyway?”

“I just turned twenty,” he says.

“Oh? So, you’re barely legal,” I flash him a playful smile and touch his leg under the table. “Your Japanese is good. Are you familiar with Japanese culture?”

“Depends,” Noiz says, his face isn’t reacting to me touching him, but he doesn’t pull away, so I lean closer and whisper in his ear. 

“Do you know what a love hotel is?” He nods yes. “Do you wanna go to one? Right now?” I accentuate my point by sliding my hand up his thigh. 

As if not to be out done, Noiz pulls me into him and kisses me. He makes out with me, not caring if anyone sees us. He sucks my lower lip into his mouth and lightly nibbles. It honestly makes me melt a little. He kisses me until I’m breathless. When he finally releases me I’m panting. _This guy’s pretty dangerous..._

Noiz smirks at me. For a younger guy, he’s pretty suave. I notice he’s wearing cologne too. It’s not entrancing like an alpha’s pheromones, but it’s nice.

“Sure, I don’t mind to take care of you tonight,” he says just above a whisper. I beam gleefully. Finding him had been a good choice and was only going to get better. 

  
We start making out again before we even open the door of the hotel room. We kiss each other hungrily and my body reacts. I think passively that it’s been a while since I’ve had sex. I’m not in heat, but I am indulging in Noiz’s kisses and caresses. I hold on to him, taking every ounce of affection he showers on me.

I feel the piercings on his tongue. They clink against my teeth. I wonder what they would feel like if he were to blow me.

We start undressing each other. He slides me out of my jacket and I pull his beanie off. He brings his arms around me gropes my ass. I start fumbling with his belt. 

“You don’t waste time,” Noiz chuckles. His warm breath blows against my ear. 

“There’s no point in waiting, is there?” I finally get his belt undone. I pull it off completely. “Okay, get on the bed.”

“Hm?” Noiz smirks, “You think you’re topping me?” His eyes shine teasingly. 

“That’s close to what I had in mind,” I say, running the length of his belt through my hand. “I want to tie your hands up first.”

“What’s the matter? Don’t trust me?” Noiz closes the gap between us and tries to tilt my chin backward. I stiffly resist him. He kisses my neck. First with small pecks, as if testing me. When I don’t push him off, he quickly turns up the intensity. I begin to soften, and he gently tilts my chin up again until I’m looking up at him. We make eye contact. I see his eyes are light green. Without a word, Noiz pulls me in by my waist and kisses me deeply. He pushes his tongue into my mouth and I helplessly take him. He explores my tongue and palate. My knees are… getting weak. This has turned into a battle of wills, and I’m not gonna lose.

I bite down on his tongue, and instead of pulling away like I expect him to, he grunts and holds on to me tighter.

“Ngh.” 

_What the hell?_

I bite him again and he groans but still doesn’t stop. I feel something digging into my thigh. My eyes open wide in shock. 

_Does this guy… have a pain fetish?_

I push him away and gasp, trying to catch my breath. 

“You’re a freak…” I mutter.

“But you like it,” he says, pointing at my erection in my jeans. 

“Tch, that’s just because you were rubbing against it. It’s just a physiological reaction. It doesn’t mean anything,” I scoff. I don’t want to give this guy any satisfaction. “Just get on the bed, or I’m leaving.”

Noiz openly checks me out, as if he’s assessing me. I grit my teeth and I’m about to use my power when he starts stripping. 

“Are you sure you want to do this? You said you weren’t the type to hookup,” he says, shrugging out of his shirt. He unbuttons his pants next. “You seem uncomfortable.”

“Heh. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to be. I’m just using you for my own entertainment tonight,” I say. Noiz isn’t fazed. He’s down to his boxers now, looking at me with a curious expression.

“Are you afraid of me?” 

I sneer at him, thinking that he’s mocking me, but I falter when I realize he’s being serious. I scoff.

“Of course not.”

“So why do you want to tie me up? Do you not trust me?”

I stare unhappily at him. The mood is gone. I toss his belt to him and grab my jacket to leave. He springs up from the bed and stops me. 

“Wait, what’s wrong?” 

I look down at the pierced hand latched onto my arm and glare up at him. 

“Let go,” I say in a low tone. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just wanted to be sure you were alright. You’re acting like a completely different person from the night I first met you.” 

I remember, of course, what he’s talking about. The night when ‘Aoba’ met him. When Koujaku had intervened when he saw ‘Aoba’ was in distress. If ‘Aoba’ were in control now, what would he do? How would he react?

_Why am I thinking about this? Who cares what ‘Aoba’ would do? I’m in control, so it’s my decision and mine alone!_

“I just want to fuck without thinking about anything right now,” I say, putting a hand on my hip. “I don’t want any bullshit. I just want sex.”

“Then, that’s what you’ll get. You’ll have to trust me though,” he smirks at me playfully. 

_Maybe I am overthinking this. Ugh… I’m acting like ‘Aoba.’_

I drop my jacket on the floor and loop my arms around Noiz’s neck. I sink my teeth into his flesh and his breath catches in his throat. He hugs me to him and crushes me against his body. His skin is warm and I want to feel him more. 

I lick and kiss his neck down to his collar bone. He starts undressing me. I freeze up for a second but quickly shake it off. 

_This is what I want. I want to do this,_ I remind myself. 

Noiz reaches in my briefs and pulls out my cock. He strokes, sending waves of pleasure through my body. I get hard easily- it really has been a while. I moan under his lustful touch. 

“Aaah aah.”

The sensations get stronger and sweet. My hips buck. I pull out his cock and feel something out of place. _So, he’s got piercings down here too? …Ew._

I drop to my knees and twirl my tongue around the tip of his cock. He rests his hand on my head, making my hair tingle. I take one of the piercings between my teeth and tug. I look up for his reaction and see his eyes are glazed over with lust. I grip the base of his cock and stroke him. I kiss the tip and pucker my lips. I push against him until he pops in my mouth. I laugh inwardly at my depravity. I don’t bother opening my mouth wide. Instead, I carelessly let my teeth scrape across his cock and piercings. He groans and thrusts into my mouth sometimes. I languidly lick the tip, taking up all of his precum. Just the realization of what I’m doing and how I must look makes me moan. I stroke my own cock, immersing myself in the pleasure of the moment. 

I glance up at Noiz and see his eyes are closed. It looks like he’s enjoying this as much as I am. That makes me feel… excited. I want to do more. I don’t want this to end just yet. 

“Noiz,” I say, breathing haggard. “Noiz, I want you… to fuck me.” My words are punctured by the kisses I leave along his dick. 

He helps me stand up and has me sit on the end of the bed. I stroke myself, taking in the view of his toned chest. I think he has a nice body. Noiz surprises me by crouching in between my legs. He rubs my inner thighs and eases them apart. I look down at him questioningly when he grins at me mischievously and takes my cock in his mouth. I’m immediately immersed in the feeling of hot wetness sliding up and down my dick. My eyes close and I think passively that I’m glad he’s _not_ using teeth.

“Nnn that… feels good, but I want more... ah!”

Noiz slips his fingers into me. They easily slide in and out of me and I squirm a little from this new sensation. I’m really enjoying the feeling of myself stretching. I can only think that I want more- I want more of this. I want to be stretched wider. I want something bigger…

“Nnngh… hah ah…” 

I throw my arms over my head and clasp on to the bedsheets. I rock my hips with his movements. 

“N-Noiz…” I want to tell him to put it in, but I can’t bring myself to tell him to stop. The sensations are building already. But to my annoyance, Noiz pulls his mouth off of me.

“Wow… omegas are really amazing. You’re so wet- it feels like it’s trying to suck me in,” Noiz murmurs huskily. I scowl at him.

“Perverted brat,” I growl and kick him hard in the chest. He’s knocked backward, but he’s not deterred in the slightest. Rather, he stands up and positions himself between my legs. I instinctively lock them around his waist. I realize I’m practically panting as he rubs against my entrance. I can feel one of his piercings and it fills my chest with animalistic desire. 

“Oh yes… mmmn…put it in me.”

Noiz obliges and slowly inserts himself. I watch his erotic expression as he buries his member into me. When he opens his eyes and sees me looking at him, he bites his lower lip. A grin tugs at my lips. _This is actually pretty fun,_ I think. I try to urge him on by tightening around him, but the fullness makes that difficult, but I can tell by the look in his eyes that he noticed. In response, he swells his dick within me.

“Nahh!” I moan, turning my head to the side. 

“Is it alright to start moving?”

I look back at him unabashedly, “Yes. Fuck me… I want you to wreck me…”

“Heh…” Noiz chuckles breathlessly, “And you called me perverted.”

“Hn,” I laugh a little. 

Noiz starts moving in me in short thrusts. I close my eyes and push my hips up to meet him. He moves in me and I gasp at the absurd feeling that the piercings along his cock create. Feelings of excitement bubble up in me.

“Ahh ahh I… I like them. I like your piercings,” I groan.

“Ngh… do you?” Noiz grunts. He lifts my hips up higher by his hands and starts fucking me harder. 

“Ah! Ah hah!” I shout obscenely from each thrust. I don’t care if anyone hears me, and Noiz doesn’t seem to either because he only goes harder. My brain is overloaded from the delicious sensations. I feel like I’m going to climax soon and I don’t care to stop it. My breathing quickens and so does Noiz’s. I’m glad to see we’re on the same page…  
Noiz grabs my cock and rapidly jerks me off. I’m sent over the edge and moans of ecstatic pleasure pass my lips. 

“Ahh… ahh…”

Noiz’s breath hitches and he pulls out. He pumps his cock a couple times with his hand and cums on my stomach. Seeing it spurt out makes me moan again.

“Mmmn,” I see both his and my cum on my body. I mix them together with my finger. I shiver at the dirtiness of it. 

Noiz sees what I’m doing and takes my finger and puts it in his mouth. My eyes widen in surprise.

“Hm. Bitter,” is all Noiz says. I stare at him a moment then chuckle lightly. 

“You’re really a freak,” I say and he laughs. He leans forward to kiss me. 

“Don’t you dare!” I yell and kick him away. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this chapter literally made me blush, okay. :P


	6. Spirited Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naine's worst fears are realized.

It is deep in the night and Naine can’t sleep. He sits by the window, looking out over the villa. They’re at a vineyard. Not for the wine, but for a change of scenery. For so long they’ve been moving from place to place. Sometimes they would disappear to remote locations way off the grid, but they would have to come back to the city for money, medicine, clothes, and other essentials. With his power and Sei’s own, they’re able to take enough from others who are well-off without drawing attention. Tonight, they’re staying at a cabin on the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina. Neither Naine, Haruka nor Sei can speak English well, but they don’t need to. Naine can influence people with his pheromones and Sei can control their minds. His adoptive parents were surprised to find that all Sei needs to do is make eye contact with someone to sway them. Together Naine and Sei can convince people into handing over money, or giving them a place to stay, as was the case tonight. 

Naine and Haruka had always enjoyed traveling, but they had been forced to stay on the run for nearly two decades now. His thoughts often dwelt on the people and places he had seen and visited. He loved nature and felt at home in places far from civilization and overrun with strange animals and lush plants. Sei, however, found that his ability could be amplified through radio waves. He could even duplicate his consciousness into electronics, but it left is physical body drained, so he refrained from doing so. Naine and Haruka were astounded by Sei’s powerful abilities. They knew Aoba had a similar ability; he could influence people with his voice, but they did not know if Aoba knew.

Naine is jerked out of his thoughts by a loud thump. It sounds like it came from the roof. Worried, he wakes Haruka, who had been dozing peacefully in bed.

“What’s wrong?” She asks, her words slurred by sleep.

“I heard something on the roof. I’m going to check on Sei. …Something feels off,” Naine leaves his wife to get up. He walks down the hallway of the cabin, which is illuminated only by the pale moonlight spilling in from the window at the end of the hall. He stops. The curtains sway silently from a light breeze. The window is open.

“Sei!” Naine yells and runs to his room, flinging the door open. It’s empty. Sei’s not there.

“Dad!” Naine hears Sei hollar. He’s somewhere outside, but before he can climb out the window, he hears Haruka’s piercing scream coming their bedroom. 

“Haruka!” Naine tears through the hallway into the master bedroom and sees his wife struggling against a figure in all white wearing a porcelain mask with a theatrical grin on it. It strikes a freezing chill into his heart. Their worst fears have been realized: 

Toue has found them.


	7. Map of the Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba wakes up in a love hotel not remembering anything that happened. He doesn't get far before someone catches him leaving.

Aoba

I wake up this morning in a love hotel. I'm disoriented and I try to remember how I’d gotten here, but my thoughts are interrupted by a deep voice.

“Finally awake?” the voice says. “That must have really taken if out of you, huh? I had to rent the hotel room an extra day for you.”

I rub my eyes and don’t believe what I’m seeing. It’s Noiz. The young guy I met at the Black Needle a few days ago. _Why are we…_

I stop myself. I want to leave. Now. I don’t care where, I just want to be alone.

“Hey, are you alright?” Noiz says, watching me get dressed.

“I’m fine. I’m sorry, I’ll pay you back-”

“Don’t worry about it,” he says, standing and stretching his back. Perhaps he’s been sitting in that chair all day waiting for me to get wake up. “Hey, are you really alright?”

“I said I’m fine,” I snap at him and slip into my jacket. I reach for the door and stop. I breathe a deep sigh.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come here. I…” My voice trails off; I don’t know what to say.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be in the area if you want to talk.” He says. I hear my coil _bing_. I look and see he’s sent me a message so I can add him to my contacts.

“…Okay. Later,” I say and leave.

* * *

When I get outside it’s already evening. The sky is partly cloudy and turning a dark blue. I sigh. I don’t want to go home. I have nothing to go back to there. I’m… alone. I walk down the street a couple blocks when I’m greeted by the scent of cinnamon pheromones again and a gravelly voice accompanying it. Shocked, I look and see it’s the tall Cinna-man.

“There’s your nymphomaniac,” he says, eyes closed and taking a pull on his pipe.

 _Nymphomaniac?_ I think and before I can register what’s going on I’m ripped backwards by my arm. It yanks me so suddenly that I wonder if it’s been dislocated.

“Thanks, Mink. We’re leaving,” the person pulling me says. I look and see that it’s Koujaku.

I stumble forward but Koujaku catches me in his arms before I hit the ground. My head feels groggy. I’m disoriented and still can’t remember everything that got me up to this point. I have some fuzzy memories… memories that don’t quite feel like my own. Almost like I am recalling a dream. But before I can straighten things out in my head, Koujaku goes back to leading me, his hand squeezing my wrist tightly. His sandals clack on the pavement. The sleeves of his kimono flick against the wind. We attract the attention of people as he leads us through the residential area. I am ashamed and try to yank my arm away from him, but he only holds on to me tighter.

“Stop, what are you doing?” I hiss, “People are staring!” I want to resist more, but he is pulling me so forcibly that I fear I would fall on my face if I tried to dig my heels into the ground.

“So now you care what people think of you? Do I need to remind you where I just found you? And what you were doing?” He tosses a glare over his shoulder. I scowl back, indignant.

“You don’t need to pull me along like I’m some disobedient child!”

Koujaku pivots around so suddenly that I bump into his chest. He grabs both of my arms and pulls me in so close that our faces are only inches apart. His eyes are boring into mine.

“And if I let go, then what? You’ll disappear again?”

I open my mouth to speak, but any words of defense I had planned to say fizzle out when I hear Koujaku’s next line.

“You need to be disciplined.”

My eyes widen, a chill shoots down my spine.

“Disciplined?”

If my face wasn’t red before, it is now. And while my heart has sped up from trying to keep up with Koujaku, it’s pounding for a different reason now.

_Koujaku is going to discipline me? What does that mean?_

I’m too bewildered to say anything the rest of the way to where he is taking me, which I realize is his apartment. To my chagrin, I see a couple of women hanging out in front of the stairs leading to his place.

 _Just let me die now,_ I groan inwardly.

“Koujaku-san! Hey, there you are!”

“Koujaku-san~!” A woman with black hair tied up in a bun waves, but her smile falters when she see me.

“Oi,” says a blonde, “Are you just going to ignore us, Koujaku-san? We’ve been looking for you all day!”

“Sorry, ladies. But I have something I need to settle with my friend here,” he utters, referring to me.

The women scowl at me. The blonde-haired woman chimes in, “Wait, I recognize you. You’re that slut who made out with that piercings kid in public.”

“Ew…” the black-haired one looks disgusted. “You’re right! Is that what this is about, Koujaku-san? You gonna teach this guy some decency?”

“Yeah, Koujaku-san. He’s gross.”

Koujaku clenches his jaw.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure that he learns to behave better,” he says and walks past them.

“So, we’ll see you later tonight, Koujaku-san? Same bar as usual?” One of the fan club members asks. Koujaku mutters a, “Sure,” and we go into his apartment.

Once inside, he slams the door and, without missing a beat, he pushes me up against the wall. I can smell he’s furious, but his pheromones don’t send me into heat, and for that I’m a little thankful. He pushes his knee between my legs and pins my arms up by my shoulders. The image of a dog exposing its belly in surrender enters my mind. I must look that vulnerable and pathetic. After being dragged by him in front of everyone and the encounter with the fan club, I’m fuming. He has no right to treat me like this!

“What the hell are you doing?” I shout.

“I’m going to fuck you,” he growls, still glaring at me.

I blink, all the anger and indignation within me quickly drains out. He moves in closer to me, pressing his body against mine. He leans forward and speaks in a low voice next to my ear.

“If you really want to be fucked that badly, then I’m going to be the one to do it.”

I shiver.

He pulls away to get a good look at how his words have affected me. I can only stare wordlessly up at Koujaku. My eyes sting. My heart pounds. My mouth is dry. I’m actually a little frightened.

“What’s wrong? You don’t seem like the Aoba I’ve been hearing rumors about. The one who’s going to love hotels? Would you prefer I were some rando you found off the street?” He says, the tone in his voice cruel.

“No… I…” I bite my tongue. I feel myself getting choked up. I can’t explain why I had done what I’d done. Even if it had been ‘the other me’ in control, he was still me, wasn’t he? I had to take responsibility for his actions. I could have fought ‘the other me’ more if I had wanted to. But I hadn’t.

After a moment of silence, Koujaku lets go of my arms and backs away from me. I take a short, shaky breath. He looks at me, thinking. He frowns; he seems confused by my reaction, or rather nonreaction. He sighs heavily.

“…Aoba. If you want to leave, you can. I won’t interfere anymore in your private life. You’re an adult and you can choose how you want to live. But when I heard that you had ran away, left Ren, quit your job, and were hooking up with strangers… I couldn’t believe it was you they were talking about. I had to see it for myself.”

He looks me in the eyes, they’re still piercing, but they also have a twinge of sadness in them.

“Do what you want, just please… please take care of yourself. And go back home. You’re breaking Tae-san’s heart. She’s worried to death over you. And I am too.

“I’m sorry I embarrassed you by dragging you here. But I was terrified that if I let you go, you would have disappeared for good. I didn’t want that to happen until I at least had a chance to talk to you.”

My gaze falls to the floor. Tears blur my vision. Was granny really worried? From what Clear had told me, she should be relieved to be rid of me. She regretted bringing me, a monster, into her life. Was that… not true? How much of it, if anything, was true? I’d thought the pain I felt was in a vacuum. I believed by hurting myself I was only hurting me. But that wasn’t true. Koujaku was proof enough of that. He wasn’t just angry… he was hurt. And he… cared about me. Enough to worry and look for me. He found me and he saved me… from myself.

“So, that’s my piece, Aoba. I just want you to be safe and to go back home. I’d like to know why you did what you did, but I won’t pry. You don’t owe me anything. But you do owe Tae-san some peace of mind.”

“I’m so sorry,” I break down and start crying. My shoulders hunch over, and I bury by face in my hands.

After a moment, warm arms enclose around me. I resist at first, wondering if I deserve being comforted right now. But that’s only a fleeting thought. I hug Koujaku back. He pulls me tightly to him. My torso is wracked with sobs and my tears soak into the red fabric of Koujaku’s kimono, but he allows me to let it out as long as I need to. I begin to regain composure and feel like a heavy weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I feel the calmest I’ve felt in while, and a smile tugs at the corner of my lips. The tension I had been carrying leaves my body and I melt into him. He breathes a sigh of relief.

“Heh,” he chuckles quietly, “I almost can’t believe this is happening. This isn’t what I expected, anyway.”

He gently strokes his hand down my back, touching my hair. I flinch out of habit.

“Oh,” he says, pulling out of the embrace, “I’m sorry. My hand acted before I could think.”

“It’s okay,” I sniffle and smile up at him, “You didn’t hurt me. But you’re close to losing your hand privileges.” He looks surprised and then laughs when he remembers the time he’d said that to me.

“I’m prepared to pay for my crimes,” he says, reaching for my hair again, very carefully caressing it. My eyes widen. The nerves in my hair tingle. It sends a shiver down my spine.

“Koujaku…”

He grins and lifts my hair to his lips and kisses it as if he’s kissing a woman’s hand.

“Oi, don’t use your bag of tricks on me!” I exclaim.

“My bag of tricks?” He echoes, bemused. He lets my hair fall back to my shoulder.

“All your little techniques you use to seduce women.”

“Why do you say that? Am I seducing you?” He smiles. I feel heat gathering in my cheeks.

“I didn’t say that,” I grumble.

“Besides, I’ve never done that to anyone else.”

I’m embarrassed, but that makes me a little happy.

“…Koujaku. What _were_ you expecting?”

“Hmm?”

“You said I acted differently than you had expected. When you were bringing me here, you had said you were going to discipline me.”

It’s Koujaku’s turn to get embarrassed. “Oh… _that_. Well, it just seemed like the right thing to say. In the moment.”

Seeing him squirm pleases me. I can’t miss my chance to get payback, so I tease him further.

“And you said you were going to fuck me. Did that just seem like the right thing to say? In the moment?”

“…Not exactly.” Koujaku paces, creating distance between us. I can see his face is getting red, but rather than revel in my revenge, my embarrassment doubles.

_Damn it! This isn’t how it’s supposed to go. I’m the one teasing him, so why do I feel this way?_

“Were you being serious? Were you actually planning on sleeping with me?” I ask incredulously. He scratches his head, grinning sheepishly.

“Well, I wouldn’t have forced you to. I was going to give you the option to leave or stay. Because part of me thought maybe you were acting the way you were just because you were really horny… or something.”

I blink, taken aback by his words. I can’t believe what this idiot has just said.

“Are you serious?” I clinch my fists, “What do you take me for?!”

He throws his head back and laughs heartily. I feel the urge to slug him. No matter what, it always feels like he has the upper hand…

“In my defense, you were acting really out of character. I thought maybe your heats had changed your personality, or something like that.”

“So, your solution was to sleep with me? Do you only think with your dick, Koujaku?” _This guy…_

“Well, it hasn’t steered me wrong yet.” He chuckles again and looks back at me, “Whatever it would have taken to get you back… I would have at least given it a shot,” he mutters, more to himself than to me. A giddy sensation stirs up in my stomach. Our eyes lock and I quickly look away.

“So… if I had chosen to stay…” I murmur, “What would you have done?”

“Hypothetically?” Koujaku says.

“Yeah.”

“Well then, hypothetically, I would have told you to go in the kitchen and put your hands on the table.”

I nearly choke on my spit. My eyes flash back to Koujaku. His arms are crossed and he’s grinning playfully at me.

“You… Not even a second to think. Did you really plan something out?!” I ask suspiciously. I narrow my eyes at him, “Have you do this sort of thing before?”

“No, Aoba, I’ve never done this kind of thing before. But…” he saunters across the foyer until his face is only a foot away from mine. “I may have had a few ideas about what I wanted to do.”

Something deep in my stomach jumps. My breath hitches in my throat and I peer up into his eyes as if to ask if he’s being serious. His expression is still friendly, but all signs of joking are gone. I feel my heart speed up faster. A bold thought enters my mind. I bite my lip, wondering if I should ignore the wild thought. A bigger part of me wants to act before I lose my nerve.

“Alright then.” I slip my shoes off and walk to the kitchen. I dare not to look back; it’s too late to chicken out now. My legs are trembling, but I focus solely on making it to the kitchen table. Koujaku stands still, dumbstruck for a second, but then soon follows behind me. I place my palms on the table, bending over a little. I let my hair fall forward to hide my face.

“That's quite the invitation, Aoba” Koujaku says. The break in the silence startles me; I’m on edge. I don’t say anything. I hear movement to my right. Curious, I peak over at him and see him untying his sash and shrugging out of his kimono.

_Oh my god, I can’t believe I’m doing this!_

He silently assesses me then stands directly behind me. With his hands he pulls my hips backward and out until my back arches to stick my ass out into the air. My hands are sweating against the table’s wooden surface.

“Your ass is so cute, Aoba.” Koujaku mutters, his hands groping my rump. He rubs me through my jeans, which are stretched tightly against me from bending over so far. I close my eyes, trying to relax and concentrate on the sensation of my body getting hotter. I start to melt under his touch. A small moan escapes my lips. Koujaku “Mmm’s” in response.

His right hand reaches around and kneads my half-hard erection. I let out a small yelp in surprise.

“Ah!”

“Am I moving too fast? Do you want me to stop?” He asks, his tone gentle and soothing. I shake my head. He touches my cock again and rubs me through my clothes. I moan softly, moving my hips with his movements.

“Ahh…Mmmnn.”

Koujaku’s encouraged and increases the intensity. I gasp when I feel his hard cock straining through his jeans pressing up against my ass.

“I hated myself,” he utters, “I hated myself for not taking care of you when you went into heat. But I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to control myself. I wanted badly, so badly to fuck your brains out.” He groans throatily and grinds his cock against me, crushing me underneath of him. I moan loudly, helplessly. I’m putty in his hands.

“Aoba,” Koujaku whispers urgently, “Do you want me too?”

I nod fervently.

Koujaku undoes my belt and zipper. I stand up and pull my pants and briefs down and step out of them. I place my hands back on the table, and slowly, I push my hips back and out like Koujaku had positioned them before. I feel my ass cheeks spread apart. I’m completely exposing myself to Koujaku. Part of me is mortified… but I also can’t deny how exciting this is. My cock twitches.

“You’re adorable, Aoba.” Koujaku takes my ass in his hands and spreads it even wider apart. I feel my asshole being pulled open and it reflexively clenches shut. My face burns at the thought of Koujaku watching me.

“You’re so wet already,” he says, his voice thick with lust. His fingers touch my hole and he scoops some of the wetness up. He swirls his finger around my entrance and my cock begins to ache with need. I don’t think I can be patient for much longer.

“Koujaku. Please…” I whimper. I’m partly surprised at how strange my voice sounds to my ears. It’s dripping with sweetness.

“Please what, Aoba?” he lightly teases. At that I toss a glare over my shoulder at him and he chuckles softly. “Okay, okay. But this wouldn’t be discipline if I just did what you wanted. But since this is our first time…”

I start to protest, but he slips his finger into my ass and I yelp, my hands tensing up against the table.

“Disci-? Aah!”

He slides in easily from how wet I am, but the feeling of a foreign object invading me is...different.

“Does it hurt, Aoba?”

I shake my head.

He probes around my ass with his finger gently, watching my reactions carefully. I’m not really sure if I’m enjoying it or not. I’m just focused on the feeling of us being connected. Behind me I hear Koujaku’s zipper coming undone. I swallow.

“Um… Koujaku.”

“Hmm?”

I consider telling Koujaku that from my perspective, I’m a virgin. At least, I’ve never done the role of receiving before in my memory. But I decide against it, not sure if Koujaku would understand what I meant.

“Nothing.”

Koujaku goes back to fingering me. He takes his time, pushing in and out. Adding and subtracting fingers. I stand on my tiptoes, moving my hips to his movements. I pant, needy.

“Ah… hah hah.”

Precum beads at the tip of my dick. It throbs, begging to be touched. I finally break and plead.

“Koujaku, please! Your fingers aren’t enough. I need more...”

Koujaku withdraws his hand. He leans his body against my back and reaches around to grab my cock. With my wetness on his fingers, he starts to jerk me off. At the same time, I feel his cock push up against my ass. My back arches automatically. I’m too lost to worry about being modest now.

“Ahh! Mmmn…”

Koujaku teases my entrance by rubbing the tip of his cock against my asshole.

“Does that feel good, Aoba?”

“Yes!” I answer, my tone pleading, but he only continues to tease by pressing and sliding the length of his cock against me. My pride is all but forgotten.

“Koujaku, please. I want you inside,” my voice trembles; I’m near tears. I look back and make eye contact with him. His eyes glaze over with lust. He gives me what I want and pushes into me without warning. I gasp.

“Kou…jaku…Ahh!”

He starts to fuck me roughly. I fall forward and my upper half lays on the table. I’m being pushed back and forth against it with his thrusts. The table legs scrape against the floor. I’m so overtaken by the sensations in my body that I can’t control the volume of my voice.

“Fwah… Ahh! Kou-Koujaku…Hah!”

The sound of our flesh clapping together echoes in the room. I gasp and moan loudly, my knees give out and I hold on to the table for dear life. Koujaku notices. He stops momentarily to hook his arm under my right knee. He lifts it up to the side and sinks back into me. A moan resonates deep in my throat.

Koujaku pauses before saying, “Is it here, Aoba?” He says it in a tender tone that betrays the intensity of his thrusts. My stomach flutters.

He thrusts against that same spot and I moan indulgently. With his free hand, he grips my left hip and pumps steadily against that spot and it makes my toes curl. I feel myself already climbing higher, the pleasure reaching a crescendo.

“Oh…oh! Kou..jaku. I’m gonna...”

The hand he’d been using to hold on to my left hip reaches for my penis, and he squeezes the tip of it tightly. I yelp, my orgasm spoiled.

“Ow! What the hell?!”

Koujaku had stopped moving. He kisses my shoulder.

“I told you, this is your discipline.”

I’m furious- he’d just squeezed my dick without warning! - but him saying that… sends a trill of excitement up my spine.

_So, this is what he’d meant?_

He kisses my shoulder again and rests his head against my back. Koujaku grabs my hip and thrusts into me again. It doesn’t take long for that sweet pressure to build once more. Being smarter about it this time, I say nothing about my impending orgasm. But my breathing betrays me. My breath quickens just before coming and Koujaku reaches around and squeezes the head of my cock again, killing my orgasm a second time. I slump against the table, feeling frustratingly unsatisfied

“Nnnggh! Goddammit…” I whine.

My chest heaves; I’m covered in a sheen of sweat. Koujaku has stopped fucking me again; he rubs his hand soothingly up and down my back.

“Have you learned your lesson?” He teases. If I had the energy, I would have glowered at him. But I stay crumpled against the table.

“This is… a cruel…and unusual… punishment,” I complain in between pants, my voice muffled.

“Hmm, but I think it’s effective,” he laughs a little. And slowly, he starts trusting into me again. The intensity of the pleasure makes my body tremble. He keeps his rhythm even, steadily getting faster. I feel the muscles in my groin tighten a third time, the delicious sensation building once more. I moan, desperate for relief. Koujaku takes his hand off of my hip again. I cry out, anticipating him to stop my orgasm again.

“No!”

But this time, he reaches around and clasps my hand.

“Go ahead. Come for me,” Koujaku says, his voice thick with passion.

He pumps into me with quick, shallow thrusts until I am pushed, finally, over the edge. My body spasms, involuntarily humping. Loud, ecstatic moans escape me. The muscles deep in my hips tighten and pulse. Cum spurts in large, white streams onto the floor. Koujaku grunts; I feel his body tremor. He groans and buries his swollen cock deep in me. I feel his cum pour inside of me. The thought of him filling me up makes me whimper quietly in contentment.

After catching our breaths, Koujaku carefully lowers my leg and helps me stand up. I take two steps before stumbling into him. My legs are jelly.

“Oops,” he says, “Maybe I over did it.”

I say nothing when he stoops to lift me princess style in his arms. I know this should have humiliated me, but I’m too weak to fight him. I let myself indulge a moment by closing my eyes and leaning my face against his bare chest. He carries me into his bedroom and lays me on his bed.

“Are you alright, Aoba?” He asks, crouching by the side of the bed. I look up him to see that he has zipped his jeans back up and is seemingly unaffected by what just transpired between us. And here I am, bottom-half naked and feeling like I’d just ran a marathon. I feel slightly ticked off at this.

_He always has the upper hand._

“I’m fine,” I grumble and turn my back on him. He snickers and goes to leave me to recover when I suddenly realize something that fills me with anxiety.

“Wait a second, Koujaku,” I say, sitting up in bed. I already know the answer, but just maybe…

“What is it?”

“You used a condom, right?”

“No, I didn’t think I needed to, since you’re not in heat.”

I blush, heart thudding.

“Well, my heats are still irregular. If I went into heat soon, I could get…”

Koujaku comes back from the door to sits next to me on the bed. He rubs my arm.

“I’m sorry, I should have been more careful. It seems when it comes to you, I turn into some babbling idiot.”

“But aren’t you always a babbling idiot?”

He laughs lightly.

“Touché.”

He cups my face in both of his hands.

“If you did get pregnant, I would take full responsibility. I wouldn’t let you face that alone. I don’t think it’s likely, but either way, I don’t want you to worry. I’d take care of everything.”

I pull away from him, my face flushing.

“Idiot… you’re talking to me as if I were some girl.”

“No, I’m taking to you as if you were someone I loved.”

“You loved…?” my jaw slacks. _He’s just full of surprises today._ “…Why are you saying this now?” I ask, my voice just barely above a whisper.

His brows furrow at the floor.

“When I heard that you were missing, I feared the worst had happened. I searched everywhere for you. And then I heard that you were okay… but I couldn’t believe the stories I was hearing.” Shame squeezes my chest. “Mizuki wasn’t worried. He said you probably just wanted to cut back and have some fun. But I… I guess I was so shocked because you didn’t seem like the Aoba I knew.”

I frown. I know I owe Koujaku an explanation, but I’m not sure where to start. There’s a lot to process. We’ve just had sex for the first time, and Koujaku said he was talking to me as if I were someone he loved…was that a confession? Or did he mean something else? Was this a one-time thing? What’s the next step? I’m in completely new territory. I decide to avoid these racing thoughts and change the subject.

“Speaking of that… I should call granny and let her know I’m coming home-” I’m interrupted by my coil pinging. I busy myself by opening it just to avoid my complicated feelings for a second longer. But when I read what it says I instantly regret it. My vision becomes blurry at the edges, my heart beats painfully hard. I’m breathless.

“This… can’t be real. It has to be some kind of prank,” I whisper, rereading the message again.

“What is it, Aoba?” Koujaku says, craning his neck to look at my coil’s projected message. Upon seeing the picture attached to the message he instantly goes rigid. Three faces I haven’t seen in years... Mom, dad, and Sei. Granny too. All in a prison cell with their hands restrained behind their backs.


	8. Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A couple days have passed but Aoba is no closer to finding his family. Koujaku recruits the help of three individuals with a specific set of skills.

The next couple days pass by in a flurry. After getting the message, we called granny, but got no response. We went back to my house to find that everything looked normal, except granny and Ren were missing. I’m overwhelmed with guilt. _If I hadn’t ran away… if I had been here, could I have stopped this from happening?_

  
So many questions were left unanswered in my mind. Who had kidnapped my family and why? Mom, dad, and Sei… had they been captured all this time? Then why send the message now? Why was this happening in the first place? 

  
We have no leads. 

  
Koujaku stays by my side through all of this. He’s just as shocked as I am and determined to help. He’s not rested since I got the message, using Benishigure to help search and look for any leads, no matter how slim. Mizuki does the same and gets Dry Juice involved. He assures me that they’re doing everything they can to find out what happened. 

  
I’m staying at Koujaku’s at his insistence. I really don’t want to stay, but he says it’s not safe at my home, and his place is larger than Mizuki’s. I’m laying listlessly on his bed. I haven’t slept since this began either. Koujaku had noticed I looked like I was about to collapse from exhaustion, so he ordered that I get some rest. I consider that I’m useless in this state, so I need to take a break. But laying there under the moonlight trickling in from the window, my thoughts only go in circles. 

  
I hear the flapping of small wings. It’s Beni, Koujaku’s AllMate. 

  
“Can’t sleep, Aoba?” the small crimson sparrow asks. He’s perched on a plant by the windowsill.

  
“No.”

  
“Me neither. I can’t believe those bastards,” he squawks, feathers puffing up, “Taking Ren too! What would they want with an old AllMate like him? Those guys must be pure evil.”

  
I wince. I try to stop _what if_ scenarios from going through my mind. Beni was right. To others, Ren probably held no value. I brace myself for the worst- that Ren could be trashed in a dumpster somewhere... My chest tightens.

  
“Oi, Aoba,” Beni says, “Don’t worry so much. Ren’s tough. No matter what, we’ll get him back. And the rest of your family.”

  
I exhale a weak chuckle. Beni was right… Granny and Ren are tough. But that doesn’t ease my fears. Someone is holding them hostage and I have a feeling that the time to find them is limited.

  
I hear the front door open and Beni flies out of the bedroom. I hear voices and people coming inside. It’s Koujaku and… I hear two other deeper voices and a hyper, bubbly one. 

  
_No way…_

  
I fling the blankets off of me and march into the living room. My suspicions are correct: it’s Mink, Noiz, and Clear. Eyes wide, I look over at Koujaku, who looks peeved but exhausted.

  
“What- why?” I inquire, flabbergasted, “What the hell are you all doing here?!” I finally exclaim.

  
“Hmph,” Mink grunts and closes his eyes in annoyance. His large, pink Cockatiel is perched serenely on his shoulder. “We’re working to find your family.”

  
“What?” I look back at Koujaku. He nods.

  
“Mink helped me find you when you went missing, so I went to him for help about this situation. It turns out Mink is in Midorijima for a similar reason. His wife and daughter were kidnapped a month ago.”

  
My jaw drops and I look back at Mink. His face betrays no emotion, but I feel my chest squeeze in sympathy. Here I thought I was the only one with problems… now I know this is bigger than just me. 

  
Clear tentatively raises his hand, his head bowed a bit, like he’s avoiding eye-contact with me through his gas mask. 

  
“Me too. When I went home, grandpa wasn’t there. I’ve looked everywhere for him. I went back to your house and some Dry Juice members confronted me. But when I told them I was looking for my grandpa, they told me to go to Koujaku.”

  
“And… you? What are you doing here, Noiz?”

  
Mink answers for him.

  
“He’s a data maniac. He can use his hacking skills to learn more about our enemies.”

  
“I’m not a data maniac,” Noiz says, annoyed, and turns his light green gaze to meet mine. A twinge of embarrassment stirs in me. I look down to the floor and cross my arms tightly against me. 

  
“Are there… any more people missing?” I ask.

  
“As far as we know it’s just your parents, Sei, Ren, Tae-san, Mink’s wife and daughter, and Clear’s grandfather. We don’t know why yet, or what these people have in common. But Noiz was able to confirm that all of the messages were sent from the same source.” 

  
“Really? Can you tell from where?” I ask feeling hope for the first time in these past couple days. My heart thuds painfully in my chest.

  
“I haven’t been able to pinpoint them yet, but they were sent from somewhere in Northern district of Midorijima,” he sighs and pulls up a screen on his coil. “However, if these people didn’t want us to find them, they would have concealed their identity and used something to scatter their addresses, making it look like it came from anywhere in the world. It seems obvious that it’s a trap.” 

  
I clench my fists.

  
“Trap or not, what choice do we have? We need to take any lead that we have, or else there could be no saving them at all,” I say, my voice rising.

  
“We’ve already come to that realization,” Mink interjects. “My team, Scratch, has been preparing to confront whoever’s responsible.”

  
“And we have members from Dry Juice and Benishigure who are willing to help, Aoba,” Koujaku says, touching my shoulder. Without thinking, I glance over at Noiz. It looks like he wasn’t paying attention, as he’s busy doing something on his screens, but Koujaku noticed my reaction. He withdrawals his hand from me. 

  
“Um,” Clear pipes up, “I’m familiar with the Northern district. I used to take walks around there all the time. Maybe I can help?”

  
Hearing him talk sets me on edge. I remember our last encounter, when he’d said things so cruel that I receded deep within my own consciousness. We’d been ignoring each other, but if he was going to be involved, I needed some answers. 

  
“That doesn’t surprise me. You know more about this than anyone, don’t you?” I snap at Clear and he flinches. “Several days ago you said that me and my brother were botched experiments. What did you mean by that?”

  
Noiz closes his screens and he and Mink turn to look at me silently. Clear fidgets uncomfortably. 

  
“What do you mean, Aoba?” Koujaku questions. I ignore him and continue laying into Clear.

  
“You said that my granny had kidnapped us from the Toue Konzern, the lab she and your grandfather worked at. That Sei and I were designed weapons.”

  
Everyone is speechless for a moment. I’m having to bite my tongue to keep myself from loosing control over my emotions. 

  
“A-aoba-san,” Clear stammers, “I never… I never said those things.”

  
“Do you think I’m stupid? Were you counting on me losing my memory when the ‘other me’ took over?” I yell, my voice trembling.

  
“Alright,” Mink steps between me and Clear. I hadn’t realized I was that close to turning this into an all-out brawl. “This isn’t just about you, idiot. Gas Mask is missing someone too. But the fact there’s a connection between his grandfather and your grandmother can’t be a coincidence.” He pauses and narrows his eyes at me suspiciously, “What do you mean by the ‘other you?’” 

  
“Do you mean when you’re in heat, Aoba?” Koujaku asks earnestly. 

  
“No, you idiot!” I shout, my face turning red. _Things really can’t get any worse._

  
“Oh…” Noiz murmurs. “So that’s it.”

  
“What’s ‘it,’” Koujaku echoes, obviously annoyed. 

  
“He’s your friend, isn’t he? And you haven’t noticed?” 

  
“Noticed what?” Koujaku huffs in his typical short-tempered manner. 

  
“Aoba has two personalities,” Noiz states and everyone looks at me, blatantly examining me. 

  
“Hm. Makes sense,” Mink says curtly and pulls a large pipe from his pocket.

  
My fists are trembling. I can’t believe this right now. I don’t know how much of this humiliation I can take.

  
“What do you mean it ‘makes sense’?” Koujaku asks incredulously of Mink, “And what makes you think Aoba has two personalities?” Koujaku gets in Noiz’s face but he doesn’t backdown. 

  
“Because the ‘Aoba’ that was all over me the other day wasn’t the same one I met at the bar,” Noiz replies in monotone. Koujaku reeks of fury.

  
“He’s an omega. He was probably just in heat,” Koujaku says through gritted teeth. Noiz smirks.

  
“I may be a beta, but I know the difference. And he was not in heat. He wanted me.”

  
Koujaku snaps, raising his fist to punch Noiz.

  
“You son of a-”

  
“ _Everyone, get out!_ ” I practically roar. To my surprise, everyone freezes, as if they’re in trapped in time a moment. 

  
“It’s late. We’ll resume this talk in the morning,” Mink says, heading to the back door. 

  
“Right,” Clear says. “There’s not much we can do tonight, so we will do our best tomorrow.” Clear follows after Mink. 

  
“Hmph,” Noiz says nothing and leaves.

  
“I… need to get some rest,” Koujaku leaves the living room and heads to his bedroom. Beni silently flies in after him. The front door closes the same time the bedroom door does. I’m alone. 

  
_Okay, what just happened?_ Koujaku and Noiz went from being at each other’s throats to suddenly listening to me… and since when did that ever happen? 

  
I think it’s unsettling, but not for long, as exhaustion is creeping up on me. I go to Koujaku’s room and find that he’s stripped down to his jeans and collapsed on the bed. I know that he’s been pushing himself to find my family. We all have been. But there was only so much we could do. 

  
I lay in bed next to him. I see his body in the darkness. I think back on the things Noiz and he had said. I… I don’t know how to explain to Koujaku what was going on with me. Perhaps Noiz was right? Was the ‘other me’ a second personality? I guess that made sense. It should terrify me… but right now, I’m ready to surrender to sleep and hope that tomorrow holds more promise. 


	9. Oval Tower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba, having not taken his pheromone suppressants in over a week, goes into heat in his sleep next to an unsuspecting alpha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: spice ahead.

Dim, navy blue light illuminates Koujaku’s room. His gorgeous traditional Japanese furniture is cast in the morning’s early light, muting the typically stunning reds to a dark burgundy. I’m trying to figure out what’s going on, why I’m here, why it’s so hot, and what that incessant, rhythmic sound was.

Koujaku is roused by the sound too. He sits up, looking at me with a lustful expression. His bare chest is rising and falling with deep breaths. And I realize the sound… it’s me. I’m panting.

_That means… the reason I’m so hot is…_

Koujaku grabs me and pulls me into a frantic kiss. I kiss him back and we explore each other’s bodies with our hands. I fumble with his zipper and slip my hand into his pants and find his cock is rock hard and dripping from the tip. He moans in my mouth and sets to pulling all my clothes off.

We break away from the kiss, gasping. We see each other completely naked for the first time. I don’t get to admire the view long before he pushes me down on the pillow, laying me on my side with my knees curled up to my chest. He leans over top of me missionary style, and without preamble pushes his cock into me. I groan and clutch onto the pillow. Koujaku wastes no time and starts rocking his hips, his dick working in my ass. I moan, submitting to him.

“Fwah… Ahh hah!”

He thrusts into me, making me moan sweetly. The slick sounds of us becoming one and our voices are all that permeate the silent morning.

“A-o-ba... ngh,” he growls my name in a low, bestial voice. I feel excitement tingle up my spine. _He’s in rut,_ I think in a haze. I must have gone into heat while I was asleep with him next to me. And we both awoke unable to deny our carnal desires.

“Nnn.. Kou…jaku…nah!” He fucks me relentlessly pounding into my prostate, forcing my cock to leak against my stomach and thighs. Crushed beneath him like this, I feel like I’m Koujaku’s fuck toy.

“More! More!” I shout, enduring the full brunt of his need, but not yet feeling satisfied. He lifts me up by my legs and leans my back up against his chest. He sits back against the headboard and lowers me until his cock is buried balls deep. I yelp, his cock penetrates further in this position than I’ve ever felt before. It’s an unsettling feeling, but I can’t stop myself from begging him to fuck me harder.

He lifts me up and uses my body weight to come back down onto his cock. Precum is forced from my dick and I’m nearing the edge of tears. It feels… amazing. I feel weightless when he lifts me, and I am surrounded and full of Koujaku. I want him… I want his everything.

“Koujaku… please, cum in m-me,” I moan, my voice sounding on the verge of tears. That sobers him up a little, and he stops. I groan, frustrated. I felt like we were just getting to the good part.

“Aoba… but you’ll get pregnant.”

“I want to,” I look back at him, “I want to get pregnant.” His eyes flash with excitement and he thrusts into me again. His hand frantically searches for mine and I clasp it tightly. The sensations build until I’m worried that I’m going to break from the pleasure until finally, thankfully, I cum hard around Koujaku’s cock. He yells, his cock being milked by my lower muscles. I feel his tepid cum spilling inside of me.

Spent, I lean my head back against him, our breathing steadily becoming more even and controlled. I close my eyes and fall back asleep from exhaustion.

* * *

I’m awakened by someone pounding on the front door. I groan, rolling over and pulling a pillow over my head.

“Go away,” I murmur into the bed. The person only pounds harder and I’m worried they’re going to knock the door off its hinges.

“Jeez… alright, alright,” I stand up and quickly throw my clothes on. I open the door to Mink, who looks seriously irritated.

“Sleep well?” he asks sarcastically. I want to snap back, but I feel a pang of guilt when I remember why Mink’s here. While our loved ones are being held hostage somewhere, I had been blissfully sleeping in.

“I’m sorry,” I mutter and bow my head. I step back to let Mink, Noiz and Clear in. I realize that someone’s missing.

“Hey, where’s Koujaku?” I ask.

“Wouldn’t you be able to answer that better than us?” Noiz says.

I search the apartment but he’s no where to be found. I activate Beni, but he says that Koujaku has turned off his coil, so he has no idea where he could be. Even though I know it’s pointless, I send him a message, and as expected, he doesn’t answer. A cold feeling washes over my body. I remember last night. The surprise mating session we’d had. And I remember telling him…

“What’s wrong, Aoba-san?” Clear asks. I flinch. I don’t exactly trust Clear after what he did to me. And I don’t know if he’s being wholly truthful about how much he knows. But something about him gets to me. I want to tell him everything- from start to end- about how Koujaku seems close, but he keeps pushing me away. Last night, under influence of my heat, I’d told him that I wanted to get pregnant. And when I wake up, he’s no where to be found. It can’t be a coincidence…

“We don’t have time for this. We’ll just have to move on without him for now,” Mink says in a commanding tone, “We may have the kidnapper’s location pinned down. Clear was able to draw us a map of where the Toue Konzern building used to be. If our hunches are correct, that’s where we’ll find them.”

I square my shoulders and push away any self-pity I have. Mink’s right. It’s time for me to man up and focus on what’s most important right now.

“Alright,” I say. “What do we need to do?

* * *

Koujaku

Aoba, despite everything that has been going on, falls into what looks like a peaceful sleep. My chest aches for him. I can’t imagine what he’s going through. Mink and Clear too- I’ve sworn to do whatever it takes to reunite them with their families. I don’t know who would be capable of doing this. As my AllMate Beni keeps saying, they have to be some heartless bastards.

I’m coming down from the high that was my rut. It had been a complete oversight not to get Aoba’s medication from his house. With everything else going on, his irregular heats were the furthest thing from our minds. I frown and stroke his hair as gently as I possibly can. I should have been more responsible. This was my fault.

Of all the women I’ve been with, many of them omegas who had been in heat, I never made mistakes like this. I always made sure to use a condom and never let my guard down like I did with Aoba. I kept making foolish mistake after mistake with him. I just can’t seem to get it right. 

I gently lay Aoba down on the bed and lightly skim my fingers along his bare skin. His arms. His chest. His stomach and thighs. He’s a bit smaller and fairer than I am, but his body is still muscularly toned- a stark contrast from the soft curves of a woman. Though I’ve never thought another man to be pretty, this omega I’ve known since we were kids has always been cute in my eyes. Even as he grew older, I never felt my feelings about him change. I love his long, blue hair and yearned to play with it. His kindness and naiveté are endearing, but I worry people will take advantage of that. I love how he is easy to tease; it doesn’t take much to get him flustered. I chuckle softly. 

I know Aoba likely didn’t mean it when he said wanted to get pregnant. I’ve heard similar things said by other omegas when their reason was being overridden by their pheromones. But when Aoba said that to me, I felt like my heart was going to explode. I know he’ll be embarrassed and regret saying that, but honestly… there’s no way I could tease him over that. 

I’m broken out of my meditation by a knock at the door. I look at the clock and see it’s five in the morning. 

“They waste no time,” I mutter to myself and get dressed before answering the door. It’s Clear and he’s alone. 

“Clear? Where’s Mink and Noiz?” I ask, confused. 

“They’re already at the Northern district. They found where the kidnappers are,” Clear says. His voice sounds different. It’s more serious. Now that I think about it, his entire demeanor is more mature. But he is a weird person, and I don’t know him that well so I ignore it. 

“Why haven’t they contacted me?” I check my coil and see I haven’t received any messages. 

“Noiz said they can’t use their coils lest they give away their positions. That’s why they sent me. So please, be sure to turn yours off too.” 

“Oh, alright,” I say and turn it off. 

“Shall we get going?” Clear remarks and leads the way. 

We walk for what I guess has been about an hour or two. The Northern district is barren. There are many abandoned buildings and it’s mostly off limits due to being a hot spot for criminal activity. The sun is rising and it’s getting hotter. I’m parched and I’m regretting not bringing something to drink. Clear, on the other hand, doesn’t seem bothered at all and hasn’t said a single thing since we left my apartment. 

“How much farther?” I ask. 

“Hm? Actually, we’ve just arrived,” he says snidely. He turns on his heal and raises a gun at me. I freeze. 

“Clear… what are you doing?” I ask, my voice rasping. 

“Oh? I think you’re referring to my black sheep brother,” he says and pulls the gas mask off and tosses it to the ground. His albino face is contorted in a cruel sneer, his eyes are crazed. 

“Good work, Alpha One,” a clear, even voice says. I look to my left to see two figures emerging from a massive, dilapidated building. It seems like it could collapse at any moment. It looks like it could have been an impressive building at one time. High above on the building’s face it says “Oval Tower.” 

The man who spoke is an older, gentlemanly type wearing a suit and monocle. He’s accompanied by someone who is the exact copy of the one he called Alpha One, except he’s wearing an all-white outfit. 

“Who are you? What do you want with me?" I yell, angrily glaring at Alpha One. He laughs, keeping the gun locked on me. 

“Explanations will come in time. But for now, you’re going to be the subject of our newest experiment,” Toue says, grinning. “Alpha One and Alpha Two, take him to Ryuuhou.” 


	10. 失敗した

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Koujaku still no where to be found, Mink decides they have to move against Toue without him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check tags for anything you don't like as this story has changed from my original outline.

Aoba

Noiz pinpointed the messages as coming from the former headquarters of the Toue Konzern. It had been called the Oval Tower before Toue Inc. lost its funders and became obscure nearly two decades ago. 

We joined up with Scratch, Dry Juice and Benishigure in the alley behind the Black Needle. It worried me that Koujaku was still nowhere to be seen. None of his team had heard from him. 

I’m crestfallen. It’s my fault. I stupidly said I wanted to get pregnant. I hadn’t meant it, but it was too late. By running away Koujaku has made his feelings clear: we are nothing to each other. 

I push Koujaku from my mind and help the others load the vans with supplies. I feel something warm touch my face. I look up to see Mink standing over me. I hadn’t even noticed him or smelled his cinnamon scent. He had brushed a tear off my cheek. 

I stare up at him, feeling my face blush. His golden eyes are soft. 

“We need to talk. You and Gas Mask,” Mink mutters, acting like nothing happened. 

“Talk? About what?” I ask trying to keep my voice casual and failing. 

“You said he called you a weapon. I want to know more about that.” 

“Oh…” I didn’t know what that meant either. Well, I understood it was about the ‘other me,’ but Clear may know more. 

“Hey, Mizuki,” I call out to my friend who’s overseeing everyone pack up the vans. 

“Yo,” Mizuki nods. 

“Where’s Clear?” 

“The gas mask guy?” 

“Yeah.” 

“He’s inside finding you something to eat.” 

“Huh?” 

Mizuki shrugs like he doesn’t understand either. 

“He said you hadn’t eaten in a while, so I told him he was welcome to anything he could find in the storage room.” 

I look up at Mink and he gives no indication that he cares. _Alright then?_

Mink and I head inside and we hear rustling sounds. Clear is muttering to himself, rummaging around in the storage room packed with cases of liquor. When he notices us, he turns around. 

“Oh, hey Aoba-san, Mink-san,” he says pleasantly. 

“Are…are you looking for food for me?” I ask hesitantly. 

“Yes,” his shoulders slack in disappointment, “but I could only find a cup of noodles.” 

“Clear, you didn’t have to do that. I’m fine.” 

“But you haven’t eaten in a while. I can tell, I heard your stomach growling, and your face looks pale,” Clear asserts. 

“You heard my stomach growling?” I ask, feeling a little weirded out and embarrassed. “Well, I haven’t eaten, but I don’t need to-”

“Idiot, just eat what Gas Mask found. We don’t need you fainting on us, we have enough to worry about," Mink says, not allowing any room for argument. 

That rubs me the wrong way. I’m a grown man, I don’t need to be told what to do by these guys. Nonetheless, I swallow my pride sit down. 

No one says anything while I eat, and I feel oddly self-conscious. I’m hyperaware of each slurp I make while I down the ramen. 

“Um, aren’t you two going to eat?” I ask. 

“I’m fine, Aoba-san. You really shouldn’t miss meals,” Clear says. 

“What did you mean by calling Blue a weapon?” Mink says, immediately cutting to the chase. _Blue?_ I think, _I guess that’s better than being called “Nymphomaniac.”_

Clear’s silent, clinching and unclenching his gloved fists under the table. 

“I… never called him that,” he says quietly. 

“Are you saying Blue made that up?” Mink interrogates. 

“No, I would never accuse Aoba-san of lying.” 

“Then what are you saying?” 

“I think there’s…someone pretending to be me,” Clear says, lowering his head. 

“Why would someone pretend to be you?” 

“I don’t know, but that’s the only solution that makes sense,” Clear mutters that last part more to himself than us. I frown. It sounds farfetched. I glance at Mink and I can tell by his expression that he’s not convinced. 

“I want to believe you, Clear, but you know how crazy that sounds,” I state and Clear doesn’t disagree. I sigh. I feel guilty looking at the empty cup of ramen in front of me. Despite being so mean to him yesterday, he’d been so considerate of me. 

Mink huffs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “I suppose I shouldn’t have expected to get anything useful out of you two. Just do what I say and stay in my sight.” He leaves and I get the hint that we’re meant to follow. 

My hand bumps into Clear’s arm as we’re filing out the back hallway, and he peeks over at me. I give him a small, sad smile. 

“You were right. I’d been so busy that I forgot to eat. Thank you, Clear,” I say. “When this is all over, I hope I can invite you over for dinner again. You and your grandfather.” Saying that, tears threaten to well up again. 

“Thank you, Aoba-san. I promise to protect you. I see you as my friend.” 

That touches me. A warm feeling envelopes me. 

“I’m sorry for treating you like an enemy. I forgot we’re on the same side,” I look into the windows of his gas mask. I can’t see his eyes, only my reflection. Understanding suddenly dawns on my face. It would be easy for someone to disguise themselves as Clear… all they’d need was a gas mask and a lab coat. Was that beyond the realm of possibility? 

“What is it?” Clear asks, seeing my unsettled reaction. 

“Oh… it’s nothing. It looks like they’re almost ready to leave. Let’s get going.” 

* * *

I ride in the back seat with Noiz; Mink drives and Clear rides shotgun. Two vans drive in front with the members who volunteered to help. 

Noiz slouches, lazily looking out the window. He seems calm, as if we’re just taking a cruise. 

I look out the windshield watching the black van in front kicking up dust, bobbing over the dirt road. 

“You’re not marked,” Noiz asserts bluntly. I glower at him, but he looks rather bored. 

“You really need to work on your tact,” I blurt, annoyed. _This isn’t the time nor place for this._

Noiz ignores my comment. 

“Is Koujaku not your alpha? I thought maybe you were bonded since you were staying with him, but it looks like you’re not marked.” 

I grit my teeth and shift uncomfortably in my seat. Alphas mark their omegas by biting their neck and leaving a permanent mark. It’s a sign that they’ve bonded. But Koujaku had yet to even kiss my neck let alone bite it. 

“No, we’re not bonded,” I snap, hoping he’ll drop the subject. 

“But you want to be with him, don’t you?” 

That stings a little. _Seriously, why bring this up now? Why does he care?_

“Why are you-?” Mink slams on the brakes and we all lurch forward. 

“What the hell?” I yell. The vans in front of us have stopped too. Everyone in them hurriedly flees from their vehicles. 

“What’s going on?” Says Noiz. 

“Get out of the van!” Mink orders and we all quickly obey. I hear the wretched sound of metal bending and screeching. The ground shakes and I stumble, falling to the ground. 

“Aoba!” Noiz shouts. He runs to me and helps me up. We run for cover. I hear voices yelling, and I look back to see one of our vans is nearly twenty feet away from the road. It’s utterly destroyed- windows busted and metal crumpled as if it were a crushed beer can. 

_Did a train hit it?_

My ears are ringing from how loud the crash had been. It’s disorienting. I squint, looking down the road to see what had hit the van, but instead of a train, I see two figures dressed in all white wearing grinning theatre masks. I’m overtaken by terror. 

One of the figures walks to the second van and crouches in front of it. I hear the metal scream as his hands dig into its frame. He drags it across the ground as if it weighs nothing. He flings it high into the air above us. The second figure shoots it from something in its arm. The van explodes into a roaring, fiery ball, blasting us with heat. Debris fires down like a meteor shower. 

I hit the ground, covering my head with my hands. I expect shrapnel to fall and crush me, but it doesn’t. Confused, I try to raise up realize that Noiz is on top of me, shielding me with his own body. 

“N-Noiz,” I rasp. He’s dead weight on top me. I roll out from under him and see he’s drenched in blood. Large shards of metal and glass are sticking out of his back. “Oh my god, no! Noiz!” 

I scream, but he doesn’t respond. I look around desperately for someone, anyone to help. But through the smoke and tiny, burning pieces of fire still falling from the sky, I can’t see anyone. I don’t know what to do. 

“You idiot! What were you thinking?” I sob, hands shaking as I try to stem the bleeding with torn pieces from my shirt. 

I fly backwards, being ripped away from Noiz. I gasp, someone’s picked me up around my torso as if I were a doll. 

“Let me go!” I scream, thrashing against my attacker with all of my might, but it has no effect. He covers my mouth, wrenching my head back so he can talk next to my ear. 

“I was ordered by my master to bring you to him in one piece, but you’d still be in one piece even if I were to break every bone in your body,” my assailant growls. “I suggest you come quietly.” He lets go and I gasp for air, coughing. He’s crushing me in his vice grip. 

“No, please! He’s hurt- he’s gonna die- Arg!” I plead but the grinning mask looks down on me apathetically, tightening his squeeze. 

“A few broken ribs it is then,” he chuckles darkly. 

“Let him go!” Clear shouts. 

“Oh, it’s our big brother,” another one of the masked figures says, “Wonderful. We can get you out of the way first.” 

“Clear, stop! Get out of here,” I moan weakly, my vision blurring. Clear ignores me- he doesn’t back down. 

“Let go of him,” Clear demands. 

“Nope. He’s Toue’s property, and we’ll see that he’s returned to where he rightfully belongs. As for you,” the one holding me points at Clear. “You’re to be decommissioned. Trashed. You’re just a botched experiment.” 

_Botched experiment... Botched experiment..._ Those words repeat over and over in my mind. Those are the same words Clear had called me that day… Or should I say… what this guy had called me. 

“It was you,” I accuse, “You disguised yourself as Clear, didn’t you?” 

He laughs, “And here I thought you were stupid. Still, it won’t do you any good now. Alpha 2, if you don’t mind to put big brother out of his misery.” 

“My pleasure,” he runs forward, darting at Clear faster than humanly possible. 

“No, Clear!” 

Clear tries to block the punch, but his body freezes, taking the full blow from Alpha 2 to the face. He’s knocked to the ground and his gas mask goes flying. Clear coughs, spitting blood. I see his face for the first time. It’s cracked, shattered as if he were a broken, porcelain doll. 

“Ah-ah, you know better than to try and fight us. You know your safety key keeps you from attacking your masters,” Alpha 2 sneers and removes his own mask. His face is identical to Clear’s. 

“Sorry, but Toue has no use for a broken toy like you,” he raises his fist. _He’s going to kill him!_

“Wait, please!” I yell with all of the strength I have left in me. 

“Shut up!” the one holding me yells. Someone screams in agony. 

“ARGH!” 

It’s then eerily silent. I freeze, holding my breath… I don’t want to look. I don’t want to… but…

I look to where Clear and Alpha 2 had been to see Mink is standing over Alpha 2’s decapitated body with a large hunting knife in his hand. Bright sparks and dark red blood spray from the corpse’s neck. Clear is still on the ground, not moving. 

“Brother!” the one holding me roars. He rips his mask away. He also has the same face, but his is contorted in hatred. “I’ll get you for this,” he vows, glaring deranged at Mink. He throws me over this shoulder and jumps high in the air. Each time we land he runs and jumps again. I cling to his clothing, terrified that I’ll be dropped, or more likely, he’ll drop me purposely. 

_Noiz…Clear…Mink…I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This originally was going to end with the tenth chapter, but I thought...hmm what if they failed miserably? Like Suzuha in Steins;Gate: 失敗した 失敗した 失敗した 失敗した 失敗した. (Ugh still gives me chills.)


	11. Love is Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba meets his captors.

I keep wishing that I would wake up from this nightmare, but life isn’t that merciful. 

My torso feels like it is on fire, the impact of landing on the ground and being launched in the air over and over… it feels like my organs are close to bursting. My hands are aching, my fingertips bleeding from grasping on tightly, not wanting to fall and die. 

When Alpha 1 finally lands, he drops me on the ground flat on my back, knocking the breath out of me. I gasp for air and cough. It hurts so much. 

“Tsk, tsk. You should have been more careful with him, he looks like he needs medical attention,” a familiar voice says. 

“Because of him, my brother is dead!” Alpha 1 spits, “He’s lucky I didn’t do anything worse to him.” 

“Fine…fine. I suppose as long as he recovers, there’s no harm done.” 

“He does look roughed up,” a new voice murmurs close to me. Someone lays their hand against my forehead. “You’re burning up, Aoba. We’ll take you to one of Toue’s doctors and have you checked out.” 

I open my eyes. I blink. I don’t believe what I’m seeing. 

“…Virus? …Trip?” My voice croaks. 

“Surprised to see us?” Virus asks, a thin smile on his face. “Can you sit up?” 

“No…no,” I murmur quietly. “You’re…”

“We’re what, Aoba-san?” Virus asks. His eyes hold no emotion. His unwavering stare is that of a predator. 

“You’re my friends!” I yell furiously. I try to stand but stumble sideways. The world is spinning, it’s the worst case of vertigo I’ve ever experienced. Trip’s caught me in his arms, and I look up at him bleakly. I feel fresh tears building in my eyes. 

“Now, don’t look at me like that Aoba. You’re making me feel like a bully,” he says. 

“Trip, I’m getting a feeling of déjà vu. Aren’t you?” Virus laughs lightly. It sends me deeper in my pit of despair. 

“Please… don’t,” I whimper. 

“Oh, come on, Aoba. We’re only teasing,” Trip chides me, then he reconsiders. He leans in to whisper in my ear, “Anyway, if we were to have our way with you right now, I don’t think you’d survive it.” 

I gasp in terror, the full realization of the situation I’m in becoming apparent. They could do anything they wanted to me right now, and I would be helpless to stop them. 

“Why… why are you doing this!? Why did you kidnap my family?” I cry. 

“Not us, Aoba-san. We’re just following orders. A long time ago your ‘granny’ and the one your gas masked friend calls his grandfather teamed up to bring down Toue Inc. from the inside. They planned to steal you, your brother, and a malfunctioning robot that was meant to be destroyed. Then they implanted a virus that corrupted years of research that couldn’t be recovered or replicated without them. Toue’s investors called him a fraud and a scam artist, ruining his name, and barring him from ever rebuilding the Toue Konzern. That is, until he could reclaim his greatest creations- proof that he hadn’t failed in creating technology that could be used to control entire countries.” 

“That’s you, Aoba-san. You and your brother. Now that Toue has you both, he can pursue his dream of creating Platinum Jail,” Trip murmurs. 

“Why… why now? If you were only going to bring me to Toue, then why wait so long and pretend to be my friends?” 

“Because you were still born. Toue never would have dreamed you were alive too. All this time Toue had been searching the world for Sei and your father, who is one of Toue’s earlier experiments with mind control through pheromones. When they finally caught them, we learned that the other one had survived. It’d only been by coincidence, or maybe bad luck, that you’d been under our noses all along,” Virus smiles coolly. 

“But if you really are my friends, then why… why won’t you let me go? Help me and my family escape.” 

“Toue’s offered us a lot of money for you. And frankly, we were bored,” Trip says. 

“Besides, it’s too late.” 

“Too late?” I try to swallow but my mouth is too dry. “What do you mean-?”

“They’re dead.” 

My heart thuds painfully in my chest. 

“No…” I whisper. 

“Once they scanned their brains, they were able to gather all the data we needed. So, they were useless to Toue. And it’s not like we could just let them go,” Virus says this like he's talking about the weather, not the murder of my entire family. 

“No… no no! I don’t believe it! I can’t!” I try to break away from Trip’s grasp, but he holds me tightly. 

“That’s fine, you don’t need to believe us,” Virus brandishes a syringe. “It’s a shame. We really do like you, Aoba-san.” 

“No, don’t-!”

“If you keep fighting us, we might seriously hurt you. Now hold still,” Trip says. 

I feel a pinch in my shoulder and pain as the shot is injected into me. It feels immediately sore as if someone punched me. I feel the cold liquid traveling in my arm, and coldness down my legs. My body is getting heavier. 

“Good night, Aoba-san.” 

* * *

Mink couldn’t feel like more of a failure than he did that day. It seemed his efforts were always too little, too late. 

He was no closer now to saving his wife Kaiya and daughter Emi than he had been the day he received the photo of them tied up in a barren prison cell. The rescue attempt had been a total disaster. They all expected a trap, but how could they have expected robots built for mass destruction? 

Mink’s first priority had been to protect everyone. He didn’t want anyone dying on his behalf, and after seeing the robots toss vans around like toys, he knew a direct attack wouldn’t work. 

Mink saw Noiz help Aoba, but in the midst of panic, they had ran in the opposite direction from everyone else. Mink called after them, but his voice was drowned out by the explosion. After the worst of the debris had stopped falling, Mink heard Aoba shout, “No, Clear!” 

Through the thinning smoke, Mink saw Clear fighting one of the robots. His body leapt into action without thinking. Aoba unknowingly distracted them from noticing Mink hiding behind the only van that hadn’t been destroyed. Crouching, he pulled his hunting knife out of its sheath. 

“Wait, please!” Aoba yelled again and Mink saw the robot over Clear about to make his finishing blow. Mink quickly ran up behind him, grabbed the robot’s hair and sliced through its neck with all of his might. The robot gave a sickening cry of agony and was silent. Its body fell heavily to the ground. The robot holding Aoba cried out in rage, vowing to avenge its ‘brother.’ Then it leapt away, quickly getting smaller and smaller in the distance. 

Mink’s stomach dropped when he saw Aoba being kidnapped in front of his very eyes. He’d never felt so powerless. 

Mink tossed the head aside and wiped the blood from his blade before sheathing it. He crouched by Clear’s side to see if he was alright. He was horrified to see Clear’s face was the same as the robots’, though his is cracked. 

Mink wanted to be angry. He wanted to believe that Clear had been involved in this somehow. It would have been easier to blame Clear rather than blame his own desperation blinding him. But he couldn’t. Mink knew this was his mistake and everyone was suffering for it. 

“Clear,” he said, calling him by his real name for the first time. “Are you alright? Can you stand?” Mink offered his hand. 

“I think so…” Clear rolled to his side and wiped the blood from his mouth. He panted, obviously in a great deal of pain. He looked up at Mink and took his hand. Mink hoisted him up. 

“Aoba-san…?” Clear uttered, teetering in place. Mink frowned stonily at the ground. 

“They took him.” 

Clear winced and inhaled a shaky breath. 

“Noiz,” he said, “We have to help Noiz. He was hurt badly from the explosion.” 

“Show me where he is, we’ll get him taken care of.” 

They performed emergency first aid on Noiz when they found him still unconscious on the ground. They drove him to the hospital and there his injuries were treated, but several days passed and Noiz was still in a coma. He had suffered some head trauma. 

Clear stayed with Mink at Scratch’s headquarters. Other members who had been injured were hospitalized, but most got away with only a few scrapes and bruises. Clear, however, was not improving. If anything, he got worse with each passing day. His face broke up to his eye, and parts of his eyelid had cracked away, revealing the grey metal beneath. He was losing his coordination and often fell or dropped things. It was rather pitiful, and Mink was helpless to do anything for him. He decided to let sleeping dogs lie and not question him about the other two robots. It appeared as though Clear may lose function of his body any day now. 

Koujaku was still missing. They realized, again too late, that Koujaku had been kidnapped. Because Aoba had been with Koujaku the night he disappeared, no one had considered that to be a possibility. 

Mink was going insane from his own self-hatred. He should have saved his wife and daughter by now. They should be home in their village. He should be helping his daughter with her homework assignments. He should be lounging in his chair reading _A Farewell to Arms_ for the fourth time while listening to the sounds of his wife preparing dinner. 

What good was a man that couldn’t keep his family safe? 

When they tried a second time to raid Oval Tower, they found an abandoned building that hadn’t been inhabited in years. It was crumbling and structurally unsound. It had been a trap from the very beginning. 

Mink couldn’t sleep again. He was looking out the window at the distant city lights. He was praying. Praying to the gods for the safety of his family. That he would be guided to them again. That he could just take them home. 

There was a knock at the door. He startled; no one ever bothered him this late. He walked to the door and opened it. He gasped. His wife was standing there with her hands on their daughter’s shoulders. He wrapped his arms them, crushing them into his embrace. His wife and daughter started to cry and Mink openly sobbed, they went down on their knees, holding each other. 

“Thank you…Thank you,” Mink gasped. 

* * *

The next morning Clear realizes it’s quieter than normal. He had spent the night watching the night sky. This far from the city, he could see so many stars. He would have liked to have taken a walk, but his body resisted his commands more and more every day, and he didn’t want to risk falling paralyzed in a deserted area. 

Someone knocks on his door and Clear tells them to come in. 

“Go home,” Mink says. 

“Go home? Why?” 

“My wife and daughter have been returned. There’s no need for Scratch anymore.” 

“No need… what about Aoba, and my grandpa? Have they-?”

“No, they haven’t. My wife says she never saw anyone else. I don’t know why they let them go, but I’m not going to wait around for them to change their minds. We’re going home, so you should go somewhere else.” 

“…You’re leaving,” Clear says. 

Mink looks away. 

“This doesn’t concern me anymore.” 

“But Mink… we need you. We can’t save them without you!” 

“I can’t save anyone,” Mink barks. “For weeks I gave everything I had to save them and keep everyone safe. I couldn’t do anything.” 

“That’s not true. If it weren’t for you, I’d be dead! And who knows how many more people they would have killed if you hadn’t stepped in.” 

Mink waivers, silent. His bird Tori flies through the hallway and perches on Mink’s shoulder. His wings flap loudly. 

“I’m sorry, Clear. But… I’m not strong enough. I can’t help you.” Mink turns to leave. 

“There may only be a slim chance of success, but without you, we’d have no chance at all.” 

Mink stops, eyes wide. He glances at Clear, who looks just as surprised. He has an expression that says, ‘don’t look at me.’ 

They both look at Tori. 

“What did you just say, Tori?” Mink says, baffled. 

“Sorry, I had to borrow your AllMate- it’s the only way I could think to get in touch with you. My name is Sei.” 


	12. Love is Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba, who is sick and losing weight rapidly in captivity, is taken for a thorough checkup.

I don’t know how long I’ve been in this jail cell. There are no windows and they don’t turn off the fluorescent lights. Though someone brings me meals, they do so irregularly, so I can’t judge by that alone. 

I do little more than sleep. My captors provided me with a cot, an itchy, wool blanket, and some odd books to occupy myself with. _How considerate._ The food, while not great, was typically fine, but now my appetite was waning. For the past few meals, just the smell made my stomach turn. I had developed a cough too. I felt sharp pain in my chest during coughing fits. Maybe my body was giving up. 

My cell door clangs open. 

“Are you awake, Aoba-san?” Virus asks. 

I don’t have the energy to sit up, let alone answer him. 

I feel his cold hand touch my forehead and cheek. I want to slap his hand away, but can’t. I cough, and wince from the pain. 

“Can you walk?” Virus inquires. I weakly shake my head. “Oh dear. Well, that’s what we brought the wheelchair for.” 

“Hold on to me, I’ll help you into it,” Trip says. I try to comply, hugging my arms around his neck when he lifts me and sets me down into the chair. “Wow, you really weigh nothing,” Trip mutters. 

I lean back, slouching in the chair. No matter how uncomfortable that blanket is, without it I feel exposed in front of them. 

“We’ll have to put this blind fold on you, Aoba-san. I’m sure you understand why,” Virus says and ties it on me. 

I must have dozed off in the time it took to take me to the examination room because it feels like only seconds have passed when they take the blind fold off. Trip and Virus leave me with an older man, perhaps in his seventies. 

I wonder faintly what would happen if I told him I was being held against my will. That I’m an innocent person and that I’ve been kidnapped. But he wears a lab coat that says TOUE INC. in large black letters. It’s just wishful thinking. 

The old doctor examines me and starts an IV drip. He doesn’t say much, except to give me instructions on when to take deep breaths with his stethoscope against my chest. He takes an x-ray of my chest and abdomen. He scrutinizes the results and takes notes on his clipboard. When he’s done, he removes the IV and bandages my arm. He helps me into the wheelchair pats my back in a fatherly fashion. Taken off guard, I look up at him and he smiles down kindly at me. Then, he leaves the room and I hear the doctor talk to Trip and Virus in the hallway. 

_What was that about…?_

According to the doctor, I’d developed pneumonia from my fractured ribs. I was instructed to take deep breathes as much as I could stand it, and I would wear a respirator when I slept. I was also put on medications to help fight the infection and pain. They were already aware that my ribs had broken but didn’t give me anything to cope with it. So, what changed? 

When we’re finished, Trip and Virus don’t take me back to my cell, but a cozy bedroom. Still, there are no windows, but there’s a Western bed, a television, a lamp and other amenities that I’d taken for granted most of my life. My heart stops when I see a fuzzy, blue lump of fur curled up on the bed. 

“R-ren?” I gasp, my heart pounding, feeling the first glimmer of hope I’ve felt since being here. His head pokes up, ears flat on his head and tail wagging. Tears spill from my eyes. I reach for him and he runs to me, jumping in my lap and licking my face. “Ren,” I mutter again. 

“The doctor suggested we use your AllMate to keep tabs on your health. His sensors will alert us of your condition,” Virus says. “Perhaps it’s our fault for being so negligent as to not have you more thoroughly checked when we first brought you here. Maybe you didn’t know either, as you are still pretty early.” 

“Early? What are you talking about?” I ask, confused. 

“Allow us to be the first to congratulate you,” Trip says, “You’re going to be a mother.” 


	13. Love Don't Live Here Anymore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba learns that Koujaku was kidnapped.

I was surprised- hearing those words “you’re going to be a mother” were strange to hear aloud. But the news brought me nothing but despair. _I don’t want to be pregnant. Not here._ I didn’t know what would happen- if they would take my baby away… if they would subject her or him to a life of testing. I didn’t want to think about the possibilities, but I had no choice. Male omega pregnancies are shorter. Their babies are smaller and grow quicker. I know the baby would be here before I knew it. 

My only hope was that someone would come and rescue me. Where was everyone? What happened to Mink? Did Noiz and Clear survive? I didn’t even see what happened to Mizuki after the attack. And… Koujaku. If they can’t save me, would he never know that he was a father? 

I hold Ren against my chest, feeling like nothing else could be done to me. _What had I done to deserve this cruel hand of fate?_

“You know, most people would consider a pregnancy to be a good thing. Was it unplanned? Poor omega’s pregnant and still unmarked," Trip murmurs. I ignore him. 

“Are you worried about what will happen? You know, we haven’t told Toue yet. We could keep it secret,” Virus says. 

I look up at him, my mouth falling open in surprise. I hold my breath. 

“We could give the baby to the father if you just tell us who it is. And no one else would know except for us,” Virus says. 

I consider that they may be lying… but I didn’t see what harm could come of them knowing. But would Koujaku… would he want the baby? He had said before he would take responsibility if he got me pregnant, but he disappeared the morning after I said I wanted a baby. The only other option for our child was… a life in captivity. 

“…Koujaku,” I murmur quietly. 

“Hm? What was that?” Virus asks. 

“It’s Koujaku. He’s the father,” I say, looking at the ground. 

Virus and Trip glance at each other. 

“One coincidence after another, huh? I can’t tell if you have good luck or bad luck,” Virus murmurs. 

“What do you mean?” I question. 

“He’s here. Would you like to see him?” Trip offers. 

“He’s…” My voice trails off. 

“He’s just downstairs actually. We had to build a special cell for him. He’s quite strong.” Virus remarks. 

“You bastards!” I clench my fists, “What have you done with him?!” 

“Calm down. I don’t think another shot of tranquilizer would be good for the baby, do you?” Virus says calmly, so calmly that it gives me chills. These two… they aren’t normal. Why hadn’t I seen it before? 

I grind my teeth. I’m furious, but I know there’s nothing I can do but play by their rules. 

“I’m sorry… Please. Please let me see him. I want to see Koujaku.” 

“Of course, I’m sure he’d be glad to see you too.” 

They cover my eyes with a blind fold and wheel me around for a while. We go into what sounds like an elevator. The lower floor is much colder. Goosebumps raise on my arms. Then I’m assaulted by a coppery smell. It’s wretched. It makes me feel queasy. I cover my mouth and nose with the back of my hand. Then I hear something that makes my hair stand on end. 

_Growling._

Panicked, I pull my blind fold off and immediately wish that I hadn’t. There’s something in the gleaming, steel prison glaring at me with bloodshot eyes. It has long, red hair and red tattoos over most of its body. Peony tattoos cover the right side of his torso and arm. It bares its fangs, saliva dripping from them. 

I stand up from the wheelchair and walk up to the cage, entranced. Face to face, the beast reeks of blood. I look in its eyes, “Koujaku…” and there’s no reason to be found in them. Koujaku reaches through the bars and grabs me. I scream in terror. He pulls me against his prison and bites my neck, puncturing my flesh with his long teeth. 

“Ahhrg!” I scream. Someone curses behind me. Hands fight to pull me out of Koujaku’s grasp and someone holds a cloth tightly against my wound. 

I gasp, staring in terror at the monster that was Koujaku. It’s worse… it’s worse than anything I could have imagined. 

_Everyone… everyone’s dead… because of me. And Koujaku is…_

He snarls loudly, banging at the bars of his prison. It’s a fate worse than death. 

_It’s all my fault._


	14. Would You Love a Monsterman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren is caught exploring their prison. Mink and Sei try to wake Noiz from his coma.

Ren quietly trots along, sniffing at the floor and the bottoms of doors as he goes. His claws click against the shiny, freshly waxed tiles. He stops, hearing footsteps. Ren has nowhere to hide; he’s exposed in the barren hallway and it’s too late to run. 

“Oh? What are you doing out here?” Virus marvels. 

“Ah, I was looking for someone. Aoba said he’s cold and wants his blanket,” Ren answers. 

“Hm, if he didn’t insist on staying in the basement, then he wouldn’t be cold,” Virus sighs. “Oh, well. It can’t be helped. I’ll bring one.” 

“Thank you,” Ren turns to head back to the basement. 

“AllMate,” Virus calls out. Ren freezes in his tracks. “You’re still disconnected from the internet. Am I correct?” 

“Yes, Trip removed all parts necessary for connectivity before placing me in Aoba’s room,” Ren replies. Virus stares at Ren, his expression unreadable. 

“Alright. I’ll bring Aoba his blanket. But if I find you wandering around again, I’ll have Trip remove your legs,” Virus warns. Ren lowers his ears. 

“I understand.” 

* * *

The nurse leaves Mink with Noiz, who is wrapped head to toe in bandages. Noiz had been more damaged by the attack than Mink had realized. It only serves to make Mink feel more self-hatred. The Cockatiel on Mink’s shoulder flies down to perch on the bedside railing. 

“Okay, now I need you to open his eyes,” Sei instructs. Mink looks back at his AllMate stonily. “What’s wrong?” 

Mink sighs heavily. He takes one step forward closer to Noiz and hesitates. Mink thinks humorlessly to himself that this is some sort of odd ritual to resurrect a mummy. 

“Come on, we don’t have long until the nurse comes back,” Sei’s soft voice urges through Tori. 

“Can’t I just tape his eyes open with gauze tape or something?” Mink mumbles. 

“Just open his eyes, it won’t take long… I think,” Sei mutters. 

“You think? Haven’t you done this before?” Mink asks incredulously. 

“Do what before? Go inside of a coma patient’s head and restore their consciousness? I can’t say I’ve had the pleasure,” Sei retorts, stretching out his wings. Mink closes his eyes and rubs the bridge of his nose in annoyance. 

“Noiz is the only one who can help us find where Toue is hiding me and everyone else. I’ve used my power to control people’s minds before, so maybe, I can pull his consciousness back. I don’t know if it will work, but we’ve got to try all of our options,” Sei asserts. Mink huffs; he knew that already, it’s just that this whole situation was ridiculous. Mink relents and crouches over Noiz, opening his eyes with his thumbs. Tori’s body hops on Noiz’s chest and stares fixedly into his eyes. 

“Alright, here goes nothing,” Sei mutters. 

It’s quiet for a couple minutes. Mink feels awkward but doesn’t move. He tenses up every time he hears footsteps clack outside their door. If someone walks in, he’s going to have no way to explain himself. He starts sweating. Then finally, Noiz gasps, sitting upright. Sei flies backwards off his chest. 

“Ack!” Noiz yelps, and falls back into the pillows, groaning, “Oh god… I hurt, all over!” 

“Yes! It worked,” Sei proclaims, flapping Tori’s wings excitedly. Mink, despite himself, smiles in relief. 

“Welcome back,” Mink says. 

* * *

Back at Scratch Hangout

Noiz reclines in the cot propped up by a couple pillows. Since waking up from the coma, Noiz has been in excruciating pain. It’s an unfamiliar sensation, as he had had a dull sense of touch everywhere except his tongue. His mind is struggling to mitigate the new sensations he’s experiencing, but he tries his best to ignore it and focus on the task at hand. 

Clear sits at the bottom of the bed. Noiz had just finished examining Clear. It had been a surprise to learn that Clear was a robot, and not only a robot, but the same as the ones who put him in the hospital. Mink seemed to have no doubt that Clear was on their side, so Noiz had to trust Mink’s judgement. 

Clear’s makeup was much more sophisticated than anything Noiz had ever seen before. He had trouble deciphering what parts did what and why Clear’s body was breaking down. With some debate with Clear, who had some understanding of how his mechanical body worked, they came to the conclusion that when Alpha 2 had struck him, it broke his safety lock; triggering a fail-safe that caused his auto-repair to shut off. Unfortunately, there was nothing Noiz could do: it was likely that Clear would eventually die. 

Mink and Mizuki sit quietly on a couple chairs listening to Noiz and Clear talk. Tori, who was now back to himself as Sei could not project his consciousness for long, perches in sleep mode on Mink’s shoulder. 

Before Sei left, they learned that Toue had been spying on them through their AllMates. Toue had lost ownership of the company that now manufactured AllMates, but he had designed AllMates to have a backdoor for companies to spy on their customers. Through their AllMates Toue could track everything they did. However, Sei doubted that Toue was monitoring Tori, since Toue, who recognized Mink as a threat after killing Alpha 2, thought Mink would drop his pursuit once his family had been returned. 

Sei also informed them that there was little security where they were being held. He had only seen Alpha 1, and Trip and Virus. So, after assessing Clear, they corroborate on how to save everyone. 

“I still can’t believe it,” Mizuki interjects, bewildered, “I knew those Trip and Virus guys were bad news… but I never expected those bastards to be a part of something like this.” 

“I don’t think Trip and Virus will pose an issue if challenged,” Mink says, exhaling smoke. “They don’t appear to be the loyal type. They wouldn’t take a bullet for anyone.” 

“Still, that robot is all the security Toue needs,” Mizuki mutters, “We’d need a bazooka or something to take that thing out.” 

“Don’t worry about him, I can take care of Alpha 1,” Clear seethes, fists clenched by his sides. Everyone turns to look at him. “I couldn’t do anything before because of my security lock, but this time...” 

Clear looks up at Mink with a determined look on his face, “I can do it. I can beat him this time.” 

“I admire your gusto, but we need to find where they are first. Maniac, can you trace where Sei came from?” Mink asks. Noiz rolls his eyes. 

“I’m not a maniac,” he closes his screens and sits up, wincing as he does. “Sei told me his power works by projecting himself with radio waves, but there’s nothing I can do to track that. It’d be like trying to track back light to a single light bulb in a room full of lights.” 

Mink grunts in understanding. 

“Then what can we do?” Mizuki asks. 

“It’s a stretch. I can’t guarantee it will work,” Noiz states. 

“Then, what’s the harm in trying?” Mizuki says. 

“There’s a chance it will backfire, and we’d lose them forever,” Noiz says. Silence permeates the room as they all contemplate the severity of their situation. 

“What’s your plan?” Mink finally says. 

“We could send a worm to Trip and Virus’s coils. If one of them opens it, it’ll give us all their personal data, including their location,” Noiz explains. 

“That’s perfect! You can do that?” Mizuki asks in amazement. 

“I can, but like I said, if they figure it out, they could relocate, and we may never get another chance at rescuing them.” 

“Then… it sounds like we’ll have to risk it,” Mink says. “I’ll take responsibility for anything that may go wrong.” 

“That’s not fair,” Clear interjects, “You can’t expect us to let you shoulder all of this yourself. We’re all in this together,” Clear stands up and puts his hand forward. He looks expectantly at the others. Mizuki laughs. 

“What, are we some underdog basketball team about to play our rivals?” Mizuki puts his hand on top of Clear’s. 

“Come on, guys,” Clear smiles, urging on Mink and Noiz to join in the circle. Noiz rolls his eyes but adds his hand to the pile. Mink sighs, succumbing to pressure. He adds his hand, looking awkwardly to the side as he does. 

“Alright, let’s save everyone!” Clear shouts. 

* * *

I wonder idly to myself if he’s cold. His entire torso is bare after all. I watch him lay quietly on the concrete. He’s peaceful when he sleeps. That irritates me. Why should I have to be the only one suffering in this cold, damp basement? My cough is getting worse from being down here. 

I want to lay down next to him, but Trip and Virus won’t open the cage for me. I tried using my power to make them open it, but they only stared at me. Of course I would be here with the only people in the world who are immune to my mind control. Perhaps that’s why Toue only lets them near me. 

I pick up a pebble and toss it at Koujaku. It misses and _tic-tic-tics,_ bouncing across the floor. I find a larger one and nail Koujaku in the forehead with it. He flinches, startling awake, then growls at me. 

“Wake up, I miss you,” I say. 

He glares at me and turns his back to me, going back to sleep. 

“Hey! I said I miss you!” I throw another pebble at him. “Stupid jerk! Don’t think you can act like this once the baby gets here. I’m not taking care of it by myself,” I shout and throw a whole handful of pebbles at him. 

He finally sits up and growls irritably at me. I smile and pat the ground next to me. 

“C’mere,” I say. He stands and obeys. His hands are restrained behind his back, so I’m not worried when he comes closer to the bars. He crouches next to me, red eyes boring into mine. They send a shiver down my spine. 

“I always thought your eyes were pretty,” I murmur. He growls lowly in his throat. “Oi, stop that. I’m complimenting you.” I reach through the bars to touch his face and he snaps at my hand. “No!” I scold and swat his nose. He looks surprised and then growls loudly, baring his fangs at me. 

“What’s your problem anyway? I’m the one who’s bonded to some deadbeat monster man,” I scowl at him, absent mindedly touching the healing mark he left on my neck when he bit me. “Do you even understand me?”

I put a finger through the bars, and he snaps at me again. 

“Hehe…” I chuckle, “Alright, I guess you’re a little cute.” My eyes travel down, and I notice something. “Oh… Is that why you’re in a bad mood?” I reach down and touch the bulge in his tattered jeans. Koujaku makes a low, guttural sound in his throat. 

“You want me to help you with this?” I ask, stroking him lightly. He doesn’t show any signs that he likes it, but he doesn’t pull away. I frown, “Somehow, I’m not in the mood.” I say and withdrawal my hand. I lay down next to the cage and curl up in the blanket. It’s freezing in here; my teeth are chattering. 

I look up at Koujaku, just seeing him makes me feel better, even if he looks like he would eat me if given the chance. His pheromones too, they’re soothing. 

“Koujaku,” I say and pat the floor of his cell. To my surprise, he actually sits down. It makes me grin. “Heh, you’re learning,” I mumble. I reach for him again, and this time I let him bite my hand. He draws small rivulets of blood. I watch him in curious fascination. He has an unnaturally long tongue that laps at the fresh wound. 

“Does that taste good, Koujaku?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Almost to the end! Just two more chapters and an epilogue to go <3 I hope anyone who reads this story gets a little enjoyment out of it. I find myself cutting things down to only scenes I want to see, so I hope I didn't make it too confusing by doing that. Anyway, thank you for reading! :)


	15. I Walk the Line

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mink, Noiz, Mizuki, and Clear make their move against Toue again.

The worm that Noiz sent to Trip and Virus’s coils had been opened almost immediately. He had disguised it as an emergency broadcast test to hopefully quell any suspicion of getting an unprompted message. In minutes Noiz had discovered that they were on a rural island in Northern Japan. Noiz secured a private flight to get them all there within twenty-four hours of sending the worm. Mizuki, Mink, Clear, and Noiz were standing outside of a large business building that appeared vacant. 

“It looks so… normal,” Mizuki says to no one in particular. “No one would ever guess that people are being imprisoned in there.” 

“Well, if this isn’t a surprise,” a callous voice taunts. Alpha 1 jumps down from the roof, landing on the ground heavily. He grins at them smugly. “I thought I smelled a bunch of disappointments.” Clear glares at Alpha 1. 

“And you,” Alpha 1 points at Mink, “Thank you for saving me the trouble of having to hunt you down. I owe you a broken neck for killing my brother.” 

“You kidnapped my grandpa. You pretended to be me and hurt Aoba and his friends! If anyone has a score to settle, it’s me!” Clear bellows, stepping forward. He loses his balance, stumbles, and nearly falls flat on his face. 

“Heh, what’s the matter with you? Did Alpha 2 knock a few screws lose in your head?” Alpha 1 simpers. “I’ll consider it courtesy to grant your wish and fight you first, _big brother._ ”

“I’m not going to fight you,” Clear refutes. 

“Huh? He really did break something in that head of yours, didn’t he?” Alpha 1 murmurs, looking confounded. 

“The Alpha series may have been built to be much stronger than I am, but that’s because you were built to be stronger to compensate for something that I have and you don’t,” Clear says. 

“Oh? And what would that be?” 

“I have a different type of weapon, one that all Toue’s robots were meant to have, but my grandfather destroyed the data after they created me. Of course, I couldn’t use it against you before because of my safety lock.” Clear squares his shoulders and smiles confidently, “But there’s nothing holding me back now.” 

Alpha 1 scowls, his face contorted in hatred, “Alright then, show me what you’ve got!” He lifts his arm, readying himself to fire at Clear. Mink, Mizuki and Noiz balk, watching anxiously. They ready themselves to flee, especially after hearing Clear saying he wasn’t going to fight. Clear lifts his arms out to his sides and starts singing. Everyone stares in terror and disbelief at Clear. 

“What the hell are you-!” Mink starts but stops when Alpha 1 screams, clutching his ears. He collapses to his knees. 

“Stop! What are you…Aaarrrgg!” Alpha 1 cries in anguish, cradling his head in his arms. Then finally, he falls limply to the ground and goes silent. Everyone is dumbfounded, not believing what they had just witnessed. The light in Alpha 1’s eyes goes out. 

Clear, finishing his song, also falls to the ground. 

“Clear!” Mizuki yells. They run to Clear’s side. He’s alive still, but perhaps not for long. They help him sit up against a tree.

“I’m just a little tired,” Clear says, winded. “I’m afraid I can’t be of much help anymore,” Clear smiles ruefully. 

“You did your part, now it’s time for us to do ours,” Mink says gruffly. Clear tears up a little and nods. 

“Right. We’re all in this together,” he says, a content expression on his face. He leans his head back against the trunk of the tree, closing his eyes. 

“Let’s go,” Mink orders, and they enter the building. 

* * *

Ren’s head pokes up from the blanket that Aoba is sleeping soundly in. He hears something going on outside. Curious, he climbs up the stairs to the first floor. But just as he exits the stairwell, he sees that the commotion has also attracted Trip and Virus. 

“You…” Virus muses, looking at Ren. “I told you what would happen if I found you snooping around again,” he says, glancing over at Trip. “Grab him.” 

Ren runs at full speed, darting between Virus’s feet towards where he had heard the din. He flies, his paws slipping on the tile around the corner, and to his relief, sees Mink, Noiz and Mizuki are there. 

“Ren!” Mizuki shouts in surprise. Trip and Virus stop their pursuit when they see them. 

“Huh, looks like the cavalry is here,” Virus murmurs. 

“You bastards! Wait til I get my hands on you!” Mizuki marches forward and Mink holds him back. 

“You know why we’re here,” Mink says. “Release the hostages, or I’ll make you pay for terrorizing my wife and daughter.” 

Virus and Trip glance at each other. After a moment, Trip digs in his pocket and pulls out a ring of keys. He tosses them on the floor, and they turn to leave. 

“You’re letting them go?!” Mizuki shouts incredulously at Mink. “What about your family? They don’t deserve to get off Scott-free!” 

“No, they don’t, but I don’t want any more unnecessary violence. Let’s get everyone out and leave,” Mink directs. Mizuki scowls, shaking his head in disbelief, yet picks up the keys. 

“Oh, that big key is for the cage downstairs,” Trip calls back over his shoulder, and the duo departs. 

“The cage downstairs?” Mizuki echoes, thumbing the largest key on the key ring. 

“Dog, can you show us where everyone is being held?” Mink asks. 

“Yes, I was able to map the entire facility by exploring it,” Ren answers, his tail wagging. 

“Great job, Ren!” Mizuki cheers. “Where are they?” 

“Sei, his family, and the doctor are being held in the western wing. Aoba and Koujaku are in the basement,” Ren curtly replies. 

“The basement… They’re being held in a cage in the basement?!” Mizuki exclaims. 

“Perhaps it would be best if we freed Sei first and took him to see Aoba,” Ren suggests, dodging the question. 

“Sei? But why? Is Aoba hurt?” Noiz asks. Ren’s ears lower. 

“I’m afraid it’s a bit more complicated than that,” Ren says. 

“Fine. We’ll free everyone else first. Mizuki, go get Sei and meet me in the basement. Noiz, you’ll take everyone else back to the plane,” Mink orders. “I’m going to check on the situation downstairs.” 

“Understood,” Ren says, and runs down the hallway leading Noiz and Mizuki. 

* * *

Heavy footsteps wake me. My torso is wracked with violent coughing; my ribs squeeze my lungs. I grimace in pain. It hurts. Everything hurts. 

I open my eyes and see large combat boots standing in front of me. 

“Heh… this scenario is familiar,” I say, remembering when ‘Aoba’ first met Mink in the alleyway. Mink looks down at me with a hard expression. “Looks like we’ve come full circle,” I chuckle, and it sends me into another fit of coughing. I taste iron. I look at my hand and see my hand is speckled with blood. 

I hear two more sets of footsteps coming down into the basement. I look over dispassionately at Mizuki and Sei. 

“Hm, so you are alive,” I mutter, looking at my twin brother. I had suspected that Trip and Virus had lied about killing everyone, but I didn’t care either way. 

“Aoba…” Mizuki gasps. “You look like you’re on death’s doorstep! And your hair… Why is your hair white?” I feel pissed off; these idiots are annoying me. 

“Go away,” I tell them. 

Mink sets his jaw, glaring at me. 

“Go away? Are you insane? Do you know what everyone has sacrificed to try and save you and your family?” Mink fumes. 

I laugh somberly, “You came to save ‘Aoba,’ but you found _me._ No one was trying to save _me._ ”

“What are you talking about, Aoba? Of course we were trying to save you,” Mizuki refutes, confused. 

“Idiot. Do I seem like the ‘Aoba’ you knew? He’s gone. He disappeared and that’s why my hair turned white,” I scowl. “Why am I even explaining this to you? Leave us alone.” 

“Us?” Mizuki repeats. They all look into the cage and notice for the first time Koujaku at the back of his cage. He’d been crouched in the corner, watching them silently. Everyone is speechless when he growls, moving forward to my side. He crouches next to me, keeping his fearsome eyes on everyone. _Maybe he’s trying to protect me._

“W-what,” Mizuki stammers, “What happened to Koujaku!?” 

“He’s under an experimental form of biological mind control,” Sei answers, his voice and expression sorrowful. “It was implanted in him years ago through his tattoos, and the one who forced it upon him, Ryuuhou, activated it. Koujaku became what he is now and killed him.” 

Sei comes closer and couches by my side. Koujaku growls fiercely at Sei, but Sei doesn’t flinch. His black eyes meet mine. They’re just as I remember them as when we were kids, glassy and dizzying to look in. 

“Aoba, you can save him. I saved Noiz. He was in a coma and I woke him up. You can save Koujaku.” 

I shake my head, “No. I like him as he is. I love this Koujaku.” 

“You what?” Mizuki says, taken back. 

“Oh, no,” Sei murmurs, the realization setting in after he sees the newly forming scar on my neck. 

“They’ve bonded,” Mink deadpans. 

Sei looks away, his expression tinged with panic. 

“What’s wrong? Just realize you’ve lost your precious ‘Aoba’ forever?” I sneer at him. He frowns sadly and swallows before speaking. 

“No, that’s not it,” he shakes his head. “I’m worried because I know this isn’t what you want.” 

“Huh? And how would you know what I want?” I challenge spitefully. 

“Because I know my brother,” Sei smiles dolefully, tears building in his eyes. “I know that since we were kids you wanted to grow up and marry an alpha and have children of your own.” He grabs my hand. I try to pull away, but he clutches my hand tightly. 

“That’s what ‘Aoba’ wanted, not me!” I spit. 

“That’s not true, you _are_ Aoba! Both of you, Reason and Desire. You make up the person who is Aoba!” He pleads, searching my eyes beseechingly. “Because we had to run from Toue, I missed out on years of memories I should have had with my brother, _Aoba._ Please,” he lunges forward, crushing me to his chest, “Don’t make me lose my brother again!” 

To my surprise, I feel a tear trail down my face. This idiot brother of mine… is making me cry. 

“But if ‘Aoba’ resurfaces, or if I break Koujaku’s mind control, it will break our bond. I’ll die,” I say. Sei pulls away, his nose red from crying. 

“I won’t let you,” he assures me, tears still glittering in his eyes. “I’ll save _you_ this time.” 

“What are you talking about?” I ask and Sei smiles kindly. 

“Can you do it? Can you destroy Koujaku’s mind control?” Sei inquires, ignoring my question. I ponder in silence a moment. 

“I can,” I say. 

“Do it now,” he nods. “I’m here. I won’t let you die.” Pain squeezes in my chest, and it’s not from my fractured ribs this time. I silently nod back, determination pulling me forward to look Koujaku in his eyes. I search them, looking for the man I once knew. 

_“Koujaku, I’ll destroy you. I’ll destroy what’s holding on to you.”_


	16. Stereo Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sei scraps Sly.

When I open my eyes, I see I’m in a memory. I’m at the beach where Naine and Haruka found me and my brother. 

“So this place is important to you too?” 

I look over my shoulder to see Sei grinning at me, rocking on his heels. I roll my eyes and look back at the sun setting on the horizon. 

“I’m glad you never forgot about me,” Sei tells me, walking to stand my side. A large black and blue butterfly flutters near us. Sei catches it on his finger. It flexes its large wings graciously. 

“Being forgotten would be better than being treated as if you’re not supposed to exist,” I growl, swatting at the butterfly. 

“No matter how many butterflies you kill, more always come back, don’t they?” Sei replies evenly, a small smile playing on his lips. “Do you know what they are?” I say nothing. 

“They’re every loving thought someone’s had of you. Every time you’ve been missed, every time someone’s worried about you, every time someone’s prayed for you… it manifested as one of the butterflies from dad’s stories,” Sei grins adoringly at me. “And they’re not just for Reason. They’re not just blue- _they’re blue and black._ You are a part of who Aoba is too. 

“And you know what? No matter how many butterflies you try to chase away, they’ll always come back. They’re never going away because we’ll always love you.” 

* * *

Koujaku collapses on the floor after Aoba says that he’s going to destroy him. The red in his hair fades away and his body gradually returns to normal. He’s disoriented, but he’s seemingly back to his normal state. Mink and Mizuki can only watch in horror and amazement after witnessing something that defied the laws of the natural world. 

Aoba had slumped over right after speaking those words. Sei caught him, looking into Aoba’s eyes before going limp himself. 

“Aoba!” Koujaku yells, trying to reach through the bars of his prison to help the frail omega. He looks around for help and sees Mink and Mizuki. 

“Hey, get me out of here- help them!” 

They both snap out of their trances and rush to unlock the cage and help Koujaku out of his arm restraints. Mizuki picks up Sei, carrying him in a fire-man’s carry. Koujaku lifts Aoba’s fragile body in a bridal carry. Mink leads the way upstairs but stops suddenly. Blocking their exit is a disheveled, older man in a suit aiming a pistol at them. 

“All these years,” the man wearing a monocle says, “I have been called an fraudster. A con man. A _lunatic._ ” He spits those last words, the gun shaking in his hand. “I believed that if I retrieved my greatest creations, reunited all of my children, I would regain the dignity and respect that my visions deserve! 

“But do you know what they called me when I tried to plan my return to the scientific community with my two greatest creations? A fraudster. A con man. A _lunatic_!

“It only took me twenty years to realize it was too late to rebuild what was Toue, Inc. There is no bringing back the prestige that my name once held. 

“Perhaps in another world… if I had just one of my children, I could have created an empire. I could have ruled countries… Everyone living blissfully in a platinum jail…” His gaze unfocused, lost in thought for a moment. 

“No. No, I think even then fate would have ruined me,” he murmurs quietly. He turns the gun on himself, pressing it against his temple. 

“The loser will quietly leave the stage,” Toue rasps and starts to squeeze the trigger, but Clear comes up from behind him and wrenches his arm up, causing the gun to fire into the ceiling. 

“No, you’re not getting out that easily,” Clear wheezes. “You’re going to pay for playing with people’s lives. You’re going to jail.” 

* * *

A warm, slender hand clasps mine. It registers in my mind somewhere that someone’s here, holding my hand. I smell a familiar scent. It’s warm. I don’t know how else to describe it but warm. Like the ending of a long, beautiful summer’s day warm. 

My eyes flutter open and struggle to focus. I finally see him. Crimson eyes and dark navy hair. I smile weakly. Maybe I am dying. This Koujaku… doesn’t exist anymore. 

“Aoba,” he squeezes my hand, circling his thumb over my palm. “Don’t give in, Aoba. Don’t give in.” He bows his head and holds my hand to his forehead. 

“You know,” my voice croaks. He sits up, looking at me attentively, “We may be old, jaded adults now, but we’ve changed very little.” 

Koujaku smiles, “So you remember too? When I said that to you when we were kids?” he laughs, tears welling up in his eyes. “I’m so glad you do.” 

“I didn’t, but I dreamed about it recently. It was so vivid…” My voice trails off. I’m still too weak to carry a conversation. But maybe this isn’t real? How else would this Koujaku be here and know to say that? Perhaps this is a dream too. In that case, I can say whatever I want without consequence. 

“Koujaku, you’re a hippo. You’re the worst of them all.” 

“I know I am,” he says, massaging my hand still. 

“If there was a contest for the biggest loser in the world, you would still lose because… you’re such a loser.” 

Koujaku chuckles, sniffling, “That does sound like me.” 

“And you’re a liar too. The lowest of the low,” I mumble. 

“I cannot deny that, but can you remind me what I lied about, Aoba?” 

“You said you would take care of everything- that you wouldn’t abandon me,” my voice strains. “But you disappeared, even when we needed you the most…you ran.” 

“You’re right. I should have never left you alone. All you need to do is get better, and I’ll take care of the rest. I’m never leaving your side again.” 

“…So, this is a dream,” I mutter to myself. The real Koujaku would never say these things; these are only things I’d been wishing for him to say. 

“It’s not a dream, Aoba,” I hear a soft voice say to my right. Confused, I look to see who it is and gasp. 

“…Sei,” everything suddenly clicks into place. I remember… I remember everything. All the memories of Reason and Desire. I remember too that Ren had been my Restraint. He had put his consciousness in the AllMate Ren when Desire was strongest in my youth. Ren lays next to me on the bed in sleep mode. For the first time in a long time, I finally feel complete. “How am I alive?” I ask. “How did you save me?” 

“I modified your bond: both of your personalities merged to bond with both versions of Koujaku.” Sei tells me, then frowns, “But you’re still very sick. You’ll need to rest awhile and recover.” 

“What about Granny? Where’s mom and dad? I want to see them,” I say. 

“They’re fine. They’re at home and will visit you later after your condition’s improved,” Koujaku says. 

“Oh, good, he’s awake,” someone new enters the room. I freeze, realizing it’s the doctor who worked for Toue. “I’ve given your new doctors my records from when I examined you, so you won’t have any redundant testing done.” He stops, seeing the horrified expression on my face, “I apologize, I’ve forgotten I still haven’t properly introduced myself yet. I’m Clear’s grandfather,” he smiles paternally at me. 

“You’re… so you were…?”

“Yes, I was being held there by that psychopath Toue too. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you before,” he sighs, morosely. “Ah, well. All’s well that ends well, right? Anyway, I’ve requested an ultrasound for you so we can get an idea of how you’re coming along.” 

“An ultrasound?” Koujaku says, puzzled. My eyes go wide as saucers; I feel my face going red. “I thought he had pneumonia?” 

“Ah, I just remembered!” Clear’s grandfather looks as though he’s figured it out. “Sei, I have a few questions to ask you as well. Do you mind stepping into the hallway with me?” Sei grins conspiratorially. 

“Not at all,” Sei replies, mouthing _Good luck!_ at me as he closes the door. 

I glance over at Koujaku, and he’s wholly mystified. I want to sink into the hospital bed and disappear. My heart is pounding. 

“Aoba…what’s going on?” He asks. I cover my face with my hands. 

“Oi, don’t do that,” I feel him rest his hand on my back. It feels warm through the hospital gown. “We’re bonded mates, Aoba. You can tell me anything,” he assures me, tenderly rubbing my back. 

I move my hands away and look at Koujaku squarely. Seeing his face, seeing him next to me, right now, after all this time, after thinking I had lost him forever. After risking my life just for a chance at a happy life for the both of us. My lifelong dreams are staring me in the face. I’d be an idiot to lose my nerve now. 

_I love this man._

I take his hand and place it on my belly. His breath catches, eyes going wide. 

“Koujaku, I’m pregnant.” 

♥*♡∞:｡.｡The End ｡.｡:∞♡*♥ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ♪ ♫ ♪ I only pray you'll never leave me behind/ because good music can be so hard to find/ I'll take your hand and hold it closer to mine/ thought love was dead but now you're changing my mind ♪ ♫ ♪


	17. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba and Koujaku look forward to spending the rest of their lives together.

Someone knocks on the door and I roll my eyes. 

“Come on, again?” I mutter and open the door to see another catering service has brought us meals yet again. They’re really decadent and look expensive, so I can’t just throw them away. 

“Thank you very much,” I sigh, taking the heavy trays laden with delicious looking goodies. I carry it to the kitchen table and sigh. I open up the pink box on top and see pastel pink macarons. 

“Another delivery?” Koujaku asks, coming out of the bath with a towel wrapped around his waist, drying his hair. 

“Yes… I wouldn’t mind if I just knew who was doing this,” I pick up one of the macarons and bite into it. It has an airy, crispy feel in my mouth. “Mm, I can’t deny that it’s been really nice not having to cook,” I say and take another bite. 

“I keep telling you, you don’t have to cook. That’s what Tae-san is for,” Koujaku winks at me. I squint at him in annoyance. 

“I’m telling her you said that when we get over there,” I warn. He smiles sheepishly, putting his hands up defensively. 

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” he chuckles and leans in to kiss my forehead. He walks past me to the bedroom to get dressed. 

I go to sit on the floor in the living room. I still haven’t put away all the gifts we received at the baby shower yesterday. I decide to get a better look at them while Koujaku gets ready to leave. 

Mink’s family had surprised us with beautiful, hand crafted gifts. His wife had weaved us a baby blanket, and Mink had made wooden toys. Their daughter had made us a gorgeous, pink dream catcher to hang by the crib. 

Noiz spoiled us with tons of cute outfits and tiny, matching shoes. He had even bought us a rocking chair for the nursery. He had also gifted me a bouquet of flowers. I had kept them in the kitchen, but Koujaku kept giving them the evil eye, so I moved them to a less conspicuous spot in the living room. 

Clear gave us a crib mobile with small, yellow jellyfish on it. It played a pleasant melody when wound up. He also gifted us small, soft bath towels for the baby and a mini beanie with a cartoony jellyfish smiling on it. 

Beni and Ren had also given gifts of their own. They gave me vouchers for babysitting, which I thought was cute. 

Koujaku finds me sitting in the living room and comes to sit behind me on the tatami mat, pulling me to lean back on to his chest. I’m holding the small beanie Clear got us. 

“Heh, that sure fits Clear’s personality,” Koujaku murmurs. I smile. 

“Yeah, it does,” I giggle, then feel a little sad remembering how antagonizing I had been towards Clear before. 

“Have you decided on a name?” Koujaku asks. 

“I think so,” I say. “I’m… fond of the name Sakura.” Koujaku doesn’t say anything. Curious, I glance up and him and see an odd look on his face. 

“What's wrong? You don’t like it?” 

“No, that’s not it,” he says, stroking his chin, looking thoughtful. “It’s just…I’ve dated a lot of women with that name,” he finally blurts. I pinch him. 

“Ow! Wait, wait, I was just thinking… what about Sakurako?” He suggests. 

“Sakurako…” I try saying it aloud. I look at my distended belly, contemplating. I rest my hands on the sides of it. Koujaku adds his hands atop of mine. 

“You like it?” He asks, pressing his cheek against the top of my head. 

“I do.” 

We leave for Granny’s to have dinner with mom, dad, Sei, Clear, and his grandfather. I had been unconscious when it happened, but before we left Toue’s hideout, they had Toue arrested. As far as I know, Toue has been put away in jail and won’t be getting out any time soon. Clear had nearly died, and his body was damaged beyond repair. Granny and his grandfather got the idea to bring Alpha 1’s body to transplant Clear’s mind into it. He had reservations about doing so, but in the end, he decided to go through with it. Tonight, we’re celebrating the success of his procedure. 

On the way to Granny’s, I see a vendor selling something that catches my eye. I tug on Koujaku’s arm, letting him know I want to stop and buy something. 

“A vinyl umbrella? We have at least three umbrellas at home already,” Koujaku says. 

“Oh, it’s not for me.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to my bestie, HK, Ethan, and everyone else who gave me encouragement to finish this story. Thanks for putting up with me when I was having an absolute meltdown stressing over this fic, haha! And thank you to all the readers! I hope I didn’t disappoint.
> 
> *Also! Who do _you_ think was sending Aoba all those meal deliveries? ;)


	18. Bonus Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Koujaku feels guilty for marking Aoba when he was a beast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hadn't planned to do anything else with this story, but someone asked for another chapter of KouAo. I'm sorry- it kind of turned into smut, I couldn't help it!
> 
> For Nanitf.

Koujaku wades through the water, fighting the waves back to shore. He searches along the coast for their black and white stripped beach umbrella. The current was strong today and had pulled him a good distance away. He wrung the saltwater from his hair and tramped through the pillows of sand. 

He finds Sakurako still sleeping in her stroller; however, she looks hot, her thin, dark navy hair is sticking to her face and forehead. Aoba lays sprawled out on the beach towel asleep. He’d brought a book to read while Koujaku swam, but Aoba, not being much of a reader, fell asleep with it open on his face. 

Koujaku considers they should head back to the hotel soon. They had been out here since the early morning and it was already late afternoon. He packs up their stuff when he hears Sakurako fuss. Her face is scrunched up in distress; she’s likely hungry, Koujaku thinks. Aoba stirs, hearing her. Koujaku unbuckles his daughter from the stroller and holds her against his shoulder. He rubs her back, talking to her in a low voice, trying to soothe her. 

“I know, I know. You’re hungry and it’s hot,” Koujaku murmurs calmly, but Sakurako is not having it. Her fussing quickly turns into crying; her tiny body has a surprisingly powerful voice. 

“Alright, alright,” Koujaku coos. “Let’s see if we can find anything you’ll like.” He stands and heads to the snack stands with a screaming infant in his arms. Sakurako attracts the attention of other beach goers as Koujaku scans the menus for something that would be safe for her to eat. She’d been eating solid foods, mostly mushy baby food from jars and plain rice or noodles, but most of the festival food here didn’t look baby friendly. Grilled corn on the cob, fish on a stick, choco bananas... Koujaku doesn’t think little miss two-teeth could chew any of those. He finds a stand selling snow cones and thinks, _Perfect._

He buys a cherry flavored snow cone and finds a shady bench to sit. 

“Sakurako, look what Daddy got you,” he coaxes. “Look.” He holds the snow cone up to her face and the bright color distracts her. She hiccups, tears still on her face. He wipes them away tentatively because she doesn’t like her face being touched. 

“I think you’ll like this. It’s cold and sweet,” he appeals to her. She reaches forward with both hands and clutches onto the syrupy ice. Her eyes go wide in surprise. She flails her arms, looking up at her father as if to ask if she was going to be okay. 

“I told you it’s cold!” Koujaku laughs heartily. “Here,” he lifts it to her mouth. She leans away, frowning and threatening to cry again, but then she smells its sugary scent and moves forward to investigate. Her small, sticky hands latch onto her father’s hand as she pulls it closer and sticks out her tongue to taste the snow cone. She pants and kicks her feet excitedly. 

“Heh, I thought you’d like it,” Koujaku says, watching her go in for another lick. 

“How precious!” A couple of elderly women chorus. 

“Wow, she looks just like you,” one of them declares. 

“Yes, there’s no mistaking that’s your baby,” the other approves. 

Koujaku beams, pride swelling in his chest. 

“Thank you, she’s my first born,” he says, grinning ear to ear. 

“She’s handsome just like her father,” they comment. Koujaku laughs sheepishly and thanks them. 

Sakurako doesn’t so much as eat as she does smear the snow cone all over her cheeks and chin. Some of it drips on her yellow polka dotted bathing suit. 

“Oops. We gotta wipe that off before it stains.” He heads back to their spot on the beach. 

Sakurako cries when Koujaku takes the snow cone away from her. He hurries, peeling her top off and giving her the snow cone back. She contentedly goes back to licking it and digging her hands in it, watching small pieces of red ice melt and drip down her arm. Aoba wakes up, setting his book aside. 

“Nnn,” Aoba stretches. “Dammit, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” He turns to see their daughter’s covered herself in red syrup. 

“…Koujaku, she’s too young for that,” Aoba sits up, frowning. “And she’s got it all over her!” 

Aoba digs through the diaper bag for wipes. He takes the crushed, melty snow cone away and starts wiping Sakurako down despite her angrily crying. Aoba knits his brows seeing that the white patches of skin around her mouth have stained red from the syrup dye. Sakurako was born with vitiligo, and the albino patches on her skin are extra sensitive. Aoba suspects she’ll develop a rash. 

“Aoba, I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. She was hungry and I couldn’t find anything else that she could eat,” Koujaku explains, feeling ashamed. 

“I packed some snacks for her in the diaper bag. Why didn’t you just wake me up?” Aoba scolds, putting his hands on his hips. Koujaku eyes go to the jagged, silvery lines on his mate’s neck. His chest squeezes. 

“You’re right… I should have asked you first,” Koujaku concedes, standing up. “I’ll take the umbrella back if you’re ready to go?” 

“Yeah, just let me change Sakurako’s clothes and I’ll get her back in the stroller.” Aoba gets his daughter situated in a fresh, clean outfit and a denim bucket hat to help shield her eyes from the sun. He sets her meal tray up so she can eat some dry cereal. Koujaku feels guilty seeing the big red stains the snow cone left on her delicate skin. He hadn’t thought it through. He broods at the ocean, sitting on the edge of their beach blanket. 

“We don’t have to leave just yet if you don’t want to,” Aoba says, taking a seat next to Koujaku. “It’s cooling down, and we haven’t gotten to do much together.” Aoba leans his head against Koujaku’s shoulder. 

“…Aoba,” Koujaku says. “Are you happy that you bonded with me?” Aoba blinks, taken aback. 

“Why would you ask that?” Aoba replies. 

“You must have been afraid when I bit you. Marking… isn’t supposed to be scary. It’s not supposed to be so violent…” Koujaku’s voice trails off. He looks dolefully at his sandy feet. 

“Koujaku…” Aoba supportively touches Koujaku’s bare back. He lightly draws circles on it with his fingertips. 

“I had planned to mark you,” Koujaku continues, “but only when I knew the time was right. I wanted it to be special. I wanted it to be a moment that would be precious to both of us. I don’t even remember doing that horrible thing to you,” Koujaku says, glancing at the large scar on Aoba’s neck. “When it comes to you… I just can’t seem to do anything right. Now it looks like that’s extended to Sakurako.” To Koujaku’s surprise, Aoba starts laughing. At first, he’s confused and a little offended, but Aoba’s laughter is contagious, and he starts chuckling too. 

“What’s so funny?” 

“Koujaku, you may be an idiot sometimes, but that doesn’t mean you’re a screw up,” Aoba expresses. “I’m not angry over the snow cone; I know it was an accident. I just… I feel like you take too much on by yourself. I’m your partner, so don’t be afraid to rely on me too.” Aoba straightens up, pushing his shoulders back. He takes a quick breath. 

“Mark me again,” Aoba blurts. 

“What?” Koujaku’s eyes go wide, not believing what he just heard. 

“I want you to mark me again,” Aoba repeats, shifting to sit cross-legged. His leg brushes against Koujaku’s thigh. 

“Aoba, that’s… Don’t do something like that for my sake,” Koujaku protests, looking concerned. 

“No, it’s not just for you. I want it too. I remember being marked by the other you, and at the time it was scary, but I could never hate you for it. Now, I want to know what it’d be like to be marked by you, on our terms. I want that for both of us. And I also want you to…” Aoba mumbles the end of the sentence, his face turning pink. 

“What? I didn’t hear that last part,” Koujaku says. Aoba’s blush deepens, his ears turning red. He rocks back and forth, flirtatiously. 

“I want you to…knot…me,” Aoba turns away, avoiding looking at Koujaku. Koujaku starts to blush too. 

“Aoba…marking you is one thing. I’d be honored to mark you again if that’s what you want, but knotting is…”

“I know!” Aoba cries, hiding his face in his hands. “I just…I want you to be the one to do that to me too. I want to experience it all… with you.” 

“Aoba,” Koujaku says. Aoba moves his hands away from his face and Koujaku pulls Aoba into a long, tender kiss. When they pull away, Koujaku looks directly into Aoba’s two-toned eyes, “Thank you.” 

* * *

That evening back at the hotel, after Sakurako had been put down in the bedroom, Koujaku and Aoba sit on the patio. They look over the ocean, smelling the warm, salty air. The moon makes the sand glow, as if the beach were an alien planet. 

“I haven’t been to the beach in so long. Not since…” Aoba calculates a moment. “Not since my mom and dad found me and Sei.” 

“Do you like it? The beach?” Koujaku asks. 

“Yeah, it’s different from how I remember it. It’s way more crowded.” Koujaku pulls Aoba closer to him and kisses Aoba’s shoulder. Aoba’s heartbeat speeds up. He tries to curb his anxiety by closing his eyes and focusing on the warmth coming from Koujaku’s skin. 

“Tell me about that day, Aoba,” he says, kissing Aoba’s shoulder again. “I want to know everything there is to know about you.” He kisses the bottom of Aoba’s scar. It tickles a little and Aoba pulls his shoulder to his ear, lightly smiling. 

“I…um used to not talk to people, because I heard voices arguing in my head a lot,” Aoba says. Koujaku licks the entirety of Aoba’s scar, eliciting a small whimper. 

“Uh huh, go on,” Koujaku says. 

“That was… Desire and Restraint. They were always fighting- mmm!” Aoba squeezes his eyes shut. Koujaku was lightly biting a spot higher up on Aoba’s neck. He rubs Aoba’s back, trying to relax him. 

“Here,” Koujaku mutters, “I’m going to mark you here,” kissing the spot what he had just bit, just below Aoba’s right ear. “Tell me more, Aoba.” 

“Sei never left my side. I couldn’t talk to him, but he seemed to understand. Then… dad found us, and gave us names, and the voices went away,” Aoba rambles on, his voice beginning to tremble. Despite Koujaku trying to distract him, Aoba tenses up and sweats in anticipation. 

“Aoba. Are you sure this is what you want?” Koujaku asks. 

“Yes,” Aoba swallows. 

“Are you ready?” 

After closing his eyes and taking a deep, shaky breath, Aoba nods. Then, to Aoba’s surprise, Koujaku lifts him bridal style. 

“Woah- hey wait, put me down!” 

“Shhh, it’s okay,” Koujaku laughs. 

“No, don’t-” Aoba protests and Koujaku covers Aoba’s mouth with a kiss, silencing him. Koujaku pulls away. 

“You’re going to wake the baby,” Koujaku playfully scolds. 

Aoba scowls unhappily, but Koujaku has a huge grin on his face. He lays Aoba down on the futon they’d laid out in the living room. Aoba realizes that Koujaku’s been careful not to release his pheromones until now, because he’s immediately calmed and willing to do whatever Koujaku asks him. 

“How do you… do that?” Aoba sighs dreamily. 

“Do what?” 

“Control your pheromones,” Aoba clarifies. 

“It takes practice. I can teach you one technique.” Koujaku caresses Aoba’s body through his clothes. He runs his hands down his chest, across his hips and down his thighs. He leans lower, closer to Aoba’s face. 

“Think about me and tell me with your body how badly you want me,” Koujaku kisses Aoba’s scar again, making him close his eyes, lost in his touch. 

“I do… I do want you badly,” Aoba susurrates. 

“Tell me through your pheromones, Aoba,” he nips Aoba’s Adam’s apple, sending a tingling sensation down his spine. 

_That’s easy,_ Aoba thinks and concentrates on Koujaku and how much he loves and wants him. Aoba hears Koujaku let out low, guttural moan.

“Oh…Aoba, you’re doing a fantastic job,” he practically growls, tugging at Aoba’s clothes and undressing him. “Keep telling me, baby,” he pulls off Aoba’s pants and underwear. Aoba gasps, feeling Koujaku going down on him. 

“Kou-jaku!” Aoba panics, embarrassed. 

“It’s fine, just try to relax. Keep releasing your pheromones,” Koujaku says, taking Aoba’s cock in his mouth again. Aoba feels like Koujaku’s asking for the impossible. How can he relax when… when this is happening?! But that didn’t mean… he wanted it to stop. 

Aoba’s hips twitch, his head turning restlessly against the pillow. He tries to let his body relax and accept the affection Koujaku is lovingly giving him. Aoba’s hands clutch the futon; he breathes soft moans. Strong emotions surge in his chest. The one giving him this pleasure right now sincerely loved him and would treasure him for the rest of their lives. Aoba doesn’t just want to receive; he wants to give. He tries, with all his concentration, to tell Koujaku through his pheromones how much he wants him. It must have worked, because Koujaku increases the intensity. 

“Koujaku- wait-aahh!” Aoba arches his back, toes curling. He is so close already and is disappointed when Koujaku pulls off him. But Aoba doesn’t have the chance to sulk for long. Koujaku flips Aoba over and pulls his hips up in the air. Aoba gasps, feeling something hot press against him. 

“No, stop I’m- Aah!” Aoba, surprised by Koujaku’s sudden roughness, is frightened and having second thoughts. But it was too late, Koujaku was in full rut. 

He takes Aoba roughly from behind. Aoba tries to quiet his cries of pleasure, but a hard thrust would illicit sweet sounds he couldn’t control. He resorts to burying his face into the futon, but Koujaku pulls him up by his arms, forcing Aoba’s upper half in the in the air. It was futile to try and keep his voice low, not when he was being fucked like this. 

“Ah hah aaah!” 

“Ngh,” Koujaku groans, pounding into Aoba. Just when Aoba thinks he couldn’t take the sensations any longer, he feels it. He feels himself stretching wider, and panics when it doesn’t stop. It just keeps going, stretching wider and wider, until he’s afraid he could tear. 

“Koujaku! Stop- it hurts!” Aoba cries, but Koujaku had given himself to instinct and doesn’t quell the intensity of his attack. “Koujaku, I’m scared!” Aoba yelps. Koujaku finally lays Aoba’s arms down and lays on top of Aoba’s back. He feels Koujaku nuzzle against Aoba’s neck, coaxing him to expose it. 

“Please…” Aoba whimpers, “I’m scared Koujaku. It hurts.” 

Koujaku reaches around and grabs one of Aoba’s hands. He squeezes it reassuringly. 

“You did it, baby, it’s all the way in. Don’t be scared. You’re doing great, Aoba,” Koujaku rocks his hips, and outside of the immense fullness Aoba feels, he feels his own cock harden, excited by Koujaku’s words. He’s done it. He’s popped his knotting cherry. Aoba moans, feeling incredibly turned on. All sense of doubt and worry gone. 

“Nnnn… Koujaku…more…I want more. Fuck me, mark me, make me yours,” Aoba moans throatily. Koujaku obliges, gripping him tighter and fucking him harder. Aoba loses himself in the intense sensations. Koujaku’s hard chest on his back, his breath and lips on his neck, the massive knot spreading him incredibly wide. He loves it. He loves all of it. 

“I’m..close-hah!” Aoba gasps. Koujaku speeds up his thrusts, assaulting him with waves of pleasure. Then, Koujaku bites down on Aoba’s neck. Aoba hisses. It hurts, but he’s overcome with joy. They’re both pushed over the edge. Koujaku thrusts deeply, filling Aoba with his cum. Aoba too comes undone beneath Koujaku. Aoba shivers, feeling drained, hazy, and satisfied. 

They come down together and Koujaku withdrawals. Aoba feels something drip between his legs, his eyes opening wide when he realizes Koujaku’s seed is leaking out of him. Aoba hides his face. 

“What’s wrong?” Koujaku asks, concerned. “Are you hurt?” 

“No…I’m…” Aoba’s face is burning. _Why’d this have to happen now?_ It was so embarrassing. 

“What is it? We’re doubly bonded mates, Aoba. You don’t have to be embarrassed around me,” he says, petting Aoba’s blue hair. It only tingles when he does; he’s learned how to touch Aoba’s hair without causing too much discomfort. 

“…I’m leaking,” Aoba finally says. 

“Leaking?” Koujaku echoes then says, “Oh…Well, the knot stretched you more than you’re used to. Your body’s just not used to it yet.” 

“And it won’t get used to it!” Aoba snaps back, “I thought I was going to die!” 

“I tried to warn you… But I won’t do it again, unless you ask for it,” Koujaku smirks. 

“Tch. Like I’d want to go through that again,” Aoba rolls his eyes. Koujaku cocks his eyebrow at him. 

“Oh, so you’re saying you didn’t enjoy that at all? Because that’s not the impression I got,” Koujaku teases. Aoba glowers at Koujaku. 

“I’m going to take a bath,” Aoba says and marches to the bathroom. While the bath is filling, Aoba sits down and showers himself off. He is surprised to find some sand still lingered in his hair and feels much better after cleaning up. Koujaku comes in, completely naked. Aoba gives him the evil eye. 

“Didn’t say I wanted you to join,” Aoba mutters and Koujaku just grins and showers off on the stool next to him. 

Despite Aoba’s earlier comment, he says nothing when Koujaku gets in the tub with him. Aoba sits in front of Koujaku, leaning back on Koujaku’s chest. Aoba closes his eyes, letting his body relax. His neck still stings where Koujaku had bit him, but he doesn’t mind it. It’s a reminder that someone loves him unconditionally. Koujaku heaves a deep, wistful sigh. 

“Hm?” Aoba hums. 

“I miss your belly,” Koujaku admits, touching Aoba’s midsection. 

“Heh, I don’t,” Aoba chuckles, thinking how in the late term of his pregnancy everything from breathing to standing up became a challenge. Koujaku laughs. 

“Yeah, I guess I can say that because I wasn’t carrying it. But still, I felt such satisfaction seeing you pregnant with my baby,” Koujaku murmurs and kisses the top of Aoba’s head. Aoba squirms uncomfortably. 

“That’s… really sappy, you know,” Aoba comments. Koujaku shrugs. 

“It’s just how I felt. It still feels like a dream, having you and Sakurako. I look at her and I think, ‘There’s no mistaking that’s my daughter.’” Koujaku feels Aoba stiffen. 

“Why do you say that? Were you worried?” Aoba sits up and narrows his eyes at Koujaku. Koujaku blinks, completely dumbfounded. 

“Worried? No, I didn’t mean it like that-” Koujaku’s eyes widening, panicked a bit. Aoba frowns angrily, then busts into laughter. 

“I know what you meant,” Aoba guffaws. “Finally, finally I got you back! That’s what you get for teasing me all the time.” 

“Jeez, come on, I’m an old man now, my heart can’t take a scare like that,” Koujaku chides. 

“Now? I hate to tell you this, but you’ve been an old man for a while now,” Aoba says. 

“Ouch, that’s harsh,” Koujaku says, hugging Aoba tightly. 

“Ngh, Koujaku- let go- you’re crushing me.” 

“Nope. You’re double-stuck with me, remember? I’m not letting you go. Not ever,” Koujaku says. 

“I know, but I want to be conscious,” Aoba says, worming out of Koujaku’s embrace. Aoba sits up and turns around to look at Koujaku, he smiles impishly. 

“Just so you know, you’re on night shift for Sakurako tonight,” Aoba says. 

“That’s fair, your ass has worked enough tonight.” 

Aoba scowls, punching him. 

“You’re such a pervert,” Aoba says. 

“Hm, yeah, but I’m your pervert,” Koujaku says and pulls Aoba steadfastly to him. 


	19. Koujaku and Sakurako

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fanart I commissioned Novantha to do- I'm so in love! Here's a link to her [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/novantha/?hl=en)


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